The Lunar Force
by JustAnotherShipper
Summary: Join these five new superheroes as they fight the forces of evil that have popped up in their own backyards. There will be romance, humor, action, drama, a handsome prince, friendship and self discovery as these five girls protect the land they love and try to survive high school. [UsagiMamoru] [Future ReiMinako][Inner Senshi] Superhero/American High School AU
1. Introducing Our Villains and Heroes

Hello everyone and welcome to my latest story! This one here is an American high school/superhero AU involving our lovely inner girls and Mamoru. In having it set here, I'm also adjusting the girls' personalities to work with the new culture so if it's OOC then you know why. I'm trying to try something other than a romance story to get my practice elsewhere (although there will be romance aspects to it which probably will involve my favorite Sailor Moon couple, so expect a future M rating).

Also I should warn that since I'm trying to set up this universe it might be exposition galore. If it is (in a bad way), I totally apologize! I hope you all enjoy!

* * *

"Hey hey hey, change it to the national news. Seriously, you all are going to want to see this."

The sandy haired guy rolled his eyes at the rainbow haired girl before he changed the channel. The rest of the people in the room faced their television. The screen briefly showed a picture of beautiful, bustling city before switching to a well-groomed caucasian man.

"Welcome to Crystalline, USA, an economically sound city, diverse in its population, entertainment and beautiful sights. Everyone here loves their city, but with recent events, much of the city they loved has changed. Ever since a meteor hit the Pacific Ocean and disappeared two months earlier, monsters have been attacking this lovely city. Yet, its residents and tourists love it all the same because they know they are safe. With the rise of these monsters, five superheroes have risen to the occasion and defended this city. These femme fatales have crushed each monstrous creature to bits, and, from what they've told us, have recently banded together to help each other. Let's take a look at them, shall we?"

The television switched from the well-groomed caucasian man to a girl clad in a sleeveless white spandex suit, silver arm length gloves, a silver belt with a wand attached, silver boots and a silver cape. On her chest and on her cape were a crescent moon symbol. She lifted her right arm at a monstrous shadow creature, her two index were pointed at the creature, her thumb towards the sky. Once she cocked her thumb, a bright beam of light escaped from the tip of her fingers, obliterating the shadow monster. The camera panned to her face, showing a woman with a silver mask covering her eyes and two golden buns sitting atop her head, with golden locks flowing from them, smiling at her successful shot.

"Here we have Moonbeam, the always beaming young lady whose signature hairstyle has been catching on lately. The sweetheart of this group, she has won the heart of those in Crystalline with her soft blue eyes and piercing beam shots. All the other four have called her the heart of this group. Look at that million dollar smile, America, and be glad you are under her protection. Next we have…"

The clip switched to a blue haired girl wearing lab goggles raising both her hands. A blue aura surrounded her hands. She had on a light blue, unbuttoned lab coat, a white, long-sleeved spandex suit that cut off in the mid thigh area, a blue belt, blue booties and black latex gloves. On the top of her gloves and on the back of her lab coat, the symbol of Mercury showed. The camera panned to a stone golem towering over her. She deliberately swings her hands towards each other and as she does so, two wrecked cars come crashing into the golem, smashing it into bits.

"Gray Matter, the girl who can move mountains with her mind alone. As seen here, she can lift objects like those two cars with ease, without lifting a finger. Although, she had said previously in an interview that she does move her hands to go with the movement of the object she controls simply because it feels natural to do so. The brains of the group, you have to watch out for this one. And look at her hair! It's blue! Makes you wonder why they call her Gray Matter, huh? Oh? It's because what now? This just in, I have been informed that gray matter is, in fact, a reference to the brain. The more you know, folks. And next - ohoho..."

The clip switches again to fire burning in the screen. A mysterious woman appears as the flames begin to die down, her face covered in a purple veil with the symbol of Mars. As the rest of the flame dies down, the rest of her is shown - she wears a kimono robe that looks as if it was made of fire, wrapped loosely around her body. She has a white, strapless spandex suit that covers what the kimono does not. Her deep purple hair flows in the wind as she lifts the katana in her hand and reveals the symbol of Mars on the back of it. She steps forward, the clacking of her sandals audible against the pavement before she disappears, reappearing only to reveal a creature that looks like it's from hell cut completely in half and her resheathing her blade.

"Here's my personal favorite, the blazing beauty known as the Fire Maiden. Her cold eyes are deceiving because, in truth, this girl is nothing but hot, hot, hot! And look how she cuts this monster with a quick swipe of her sword. Hoo boy, I would let her do so many- what? Am I being inappropriate? Oh, yes, we're on national television… Ahem, anyway, moving along…"

The clip switches to stone bursting into pieces as a tall brunette wearing brown leather headgear with a visor over her eyes appears. She jumps out of the way of another stone creature trying to grab her by her leather boots but she promptly kicks it to pieces. She stands there proud, her white spandex suit dirtied by the dust. She wears a leather cuirass over her torso and at some point underneath the cuirass the sleeves turn forest green like her belt and stop just at her forearm. On the her left thigh, the symbol of Jupiter is adorned against the white spandex. Her leather gloves covering her hands are dusty from all the stone creatures she has crushed. The battle axe on her back that covers the Jupiter symbol, however, is spotless.

"Ah, yes, Crash Girl! Known for her intense strength, I hear she can punch through almost anything and anyone. Better not get on her bad side! You know, I haven't seen her use her axe at any point these past two months so I would hate to see what the muscle of this group would need to use it for if she can cause this much destruction with her fists alone. Those creatures know at this point to avoid getting crushed by Crash Girl. And lastly…"

The stomp of black combat boots and the clanking of a metal chain against the pavement are heard when the clip switches. The camera pans up from the black combat boots, up the white spandex pants and zooms out when midriff suddenly appears. Zooming out reveals a chest bound by bandages and a black leather jacket. Right above her heart, poking slightly out of the bandages, the symbol of Venus is tattooed. Bandages were also wrapped around her hand, and on top of those were brass knuckles and a long chain was partially wrapped around her right hand. The eyes of the face covered by a red bandana seemed to be laughing as she took the other end of her chain, jumping to the monster in front of her, her back now towards the camera. All that can be seen is the back of her leather jacket, adorned with the symbol of Venus and a head flying off, a scream of terror and the clanking of chains heard along with it.

"The Heartbreaker herself. A terror to see on the battlefield, but a total charmer in interviews, I must say. With the battle finesse she possesses, it's no wonder they've designated her the leader of this group. But , seriously, don't let the charm fool you: for those who don't know, they say she got her name from a bystander that saw her ripping the heart out of a human-like monster attacking a poor defenseless girl and crushing it with her bare hands."

The television switches back to the well groomed man. He takes a sip from his coffee mug and adjusts the papers in front of him.

"These five working together are just bound to be trouble for those baddies. I definitely feel safer knowing these girls are around to defend Crystalline. For more informati-"

The television buzzed off, the woman sitting at the center of the couch holding the remote. She bit her lip as everyone stared at her, awaiting her reaction.

"They're on national television. They are on national. Television."

The other seven in the room looked around, as if awaiting punishment from the woman in the middle.

"This is perfect!"

They all turned their heads to her in confusion. The man next to her, holding her popcorn, was the first to speak up.

"Dux, what do you mean?" She grabbed the popcorn, putting a handful in her mouth.

"Don't you shee Exshaltasho?" She swallowed the rest of the popcorn before she continued. "This means more people will be drawn to the city see these girls. Which, in turn, means that there will be more life force to be drawn from this city when we finally destroy those girls. Energy gathering will be much more efficient."

The others all nodded in recognition until Dux clutched her chest in pain. The man, Exaltatio, quickly grabbed her and examined.

"What is it Dux? What's going on?"

"It's nothing… but I do think it's time to get rid of those girls. Hmmm, Ira!" She called for the girl.

"Yes ma'am."

"Look for the area in Crystalline with the highest concentration of life force." The girl pulled out her laptop and began typing in with hacker speed. "Tentigo, Magnitas, Avaritia. Come here."

The three of them stepped towards Dux. She eyed the three of them and smiled.

"I want you three to be my scouts. At this place with the highest concentration, Exaltatio will send out The Puppets to lure out these girls while also grabbing any and all life force possible. Once they are lured out, I want you to find the identities of these girls and bring back the information to us. When we have enough information, we will launch an attack and grab the life force from these girls. Do you understand?"

The three nodded. Beeping could be heard in the direction of Ira, as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"It appears that the coordinates that have the highest amount of life force… Crystal Center High School?"

Avaritia smirked. "I've heard about human high schools, of course there is going to be a lot of energy there. All the romance, drama, parties, singing and dancing…"

Tentigo raised an eyebrow. "Someone's been watching too many high school movies...

"Hey! They're really good, okay? And besides, they're youthful. They're going to be teeming with life."

...

"Did you seriously fall asleep again?" Naru asked in exasperation to no one in particular, considering her best friend was, in fact, asleep. She shook her head.

"It's a wonder Mr. Lopez didn't catch her this time... Maybe she's getting better at hiding it. Hey Usagi…" Naru started to shake the girl awake. Her head against the table, the blonde seemed lifeless except for the fact that she was snoring lightly. Naru, frustrated at the lack of response shook her even harder.

"Usagi!"

"Mph- the war started in seventeen seventy - huh?" Usagi's head shot up and looked around to see most of her classmates leaving. She turned to see Naru looking at her expectantly. "Did I fall asleep again?"

"Yup. So that makes this the fourth class you slept through today. And considering it's only fourth period… That makes you four for four." Usagi giggled.

"Hey, look at the bright side," Usagi said as she began to pack up her stuff.

"What?"

"This might be the first hundred percent I get this school year."

"Oh geez…" Naru put her hand against her forehead and shook her head in mock disappointment. When she looked up, she happened to see a tall, brunette girl walking by the classroom door. "Hey Usagi, ain't that your new friend? The Kino girl?"

Usagi looked out the door and, seeing Makoto, she smiled. "Oh yeah, hey Makoto!"

The tall girl stopped in her tracks and looked to her side to see Usagi waving at her. She waved back.

"Hey Usagi, I'd love to talk but I have to get going."

"Oh… but I'll get see you later though, right?"

Makoto smiled back sweetly in an attempt to erase the slight sadness in Usagi's eyes. "Yeah, of course! See ya round!"

Usagi waved vigorously as the girl walked away. She began to take out her lunch from her backpack and put the pack on her back. She looked at Naru, who was giving her a funny look. "What?"

"Oh it's nothing, I was just thinking that it's true what they say."

"Who's they? And what do they say?"

"Oh you know, the rumor mill. They say plenty." They started to leave the classroom to head outside. It was a beautiful day to eat lunch outside.

"What? What could the rumor mill possibly have to say about me now? More things about me and Mamoru?"

"No, no… Only that it's almost unnatural how easily you make new friends. I mean, Kino I guess I can understand, she seems like she could be sociable… but Mizuno and Hino too?"

"Hey, everyone's fun to be with once you get to know them!" Naru shook her head, unable to believe the endless positivity that can come out of her best friend. "And is the rumor mill running so dry they have to talk about who I'm making friends with?"

"Only because everyone finds it a little strange that they're becoming friends with someone as popular as you." Usagi pursed her lips as her eyebrows furrowed

"I'm not popular…" she mumbled and Naru rolled her eyes at her naive friend. She just couldn't see it because she was the humble type of girl, but Naru knew that everyone genuinely liked Usagi because of her endless kindness.

"Whatever you say..." She playfully nudged Usagi, who pouted back.

"Come on let's go sit there so we can eat! I'm starving!"

...

"So, in order to find the derivative of this equation I would have to…" The boy's voice trailed off as he completed his calculus equation. The blue haired girl watching over his work slowly took a bite from her carefully crafted peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The boy lifted the pencil off his paper and looked towards her. "Is this right?"

She glanced over his work for a few seconds before nodding. "Yes, you did it correctly."

He looked at her in disbelief, "Seriously?"

She simply nodded again, sipping from a juice box.

"Wow Mizuno, you're seriously a genius. Twenty minutes ago I didn't know jack about calculus but now… you're a great tutor, haha."

She smiled softly. "It's nothing, really. I just understand that some teachers' methods aren't the best for everyone. So I'm glad I can help."

Ami had been tutoring during lunch and after school since the beginning of her sophomore year, when it was found that she was understanding the concepts of calculus better than the seniors and juniors in her class. She also helped with Biology, Chemistry and Physics tutoring. This senior boy was just one of many people she had tutored in the month they had been back from summer break.

"And you seriously don't mind doing this every lunch?"

"Well, it's not every lunch period that I do this, only when I get called to help someone. Otherwise I'm in the clubroom," she checked her cellphone to see how much time they had left. It was 12:25. "So, we still have twenty minutes before the warning bell rings. Why don't we do a few more so you can get the hang of these types. I promise you once you've mastered this, calculus will seem relatively easier.

He nodded and went back to the next equation. Ami looked away from his work when she heard someone passing by the classroom door.

"Working hard, Ami?"

A girl with dark, straight, shoulder length hair was leaning on the doorframe of the classroom. She was a smaller girl, about Ami's height, with thick framed glasses.

"Hello Vi, what brings you here?"

"Just wanted to see how my favorite junior was doing. Besides, we've been missing you at the club. One appearance a week from our secretary Ami isn't enough. Especially when we have three meetings a week." Vi Tran was a senior and the second president of Crystal Center High's Women in Science Club. She loved to push the girls in that club to highest form of scientific excellence and allowed them to explore their options in that club. She and the rest of the club had been keeping tabs on Ami since they first heard about the blue haired genius' amazing 4.5 gpa when she finished her first semester. At the end of her freshman year they had asked her to join right away.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I've just had a lot more people to tutor than usual these past couple of weeks, but I'll be at the meeting after school today," she stated right before sipping her juice box again. Vi smiled.

"Good! I'll leave you two to work then. See you later!" The dark haired girl slipped away, Ami's attention returning to the boy she had been tutoring.

"You're in Tran's club too?" Ami nodded, the boy looking at her in disbelief.

"Woah, you couldn't even pay me to join a club like that, you really are a genius girl." Ami sighed inwardly, politely smiling at the boy while on the inside feeling an annoyance. The nickname had stuck with her since she started high school and she felt as if two whole years was enough of it. She didn't know how she would get rid of the nickname, but she wanted it to go away. She knew she was more than just that, and she was glad at least her new friends knew it too.

"Alright, let's not get carried away, you still have those problems to do."

...

"Helloooo, earth to Rei, is anyone there? This is Amelie speaking." The violet eyed girl was pulled out of her daze and brought back to earth. She turned her head toward the girl with wavy, light brown hair and hazel eyes who slouched into the seat at the desk next to her.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry I was just thinking."

"Ooooh, what about?"

"It's nothing, really."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, it's not important."

"Whatever, you could just say you don't want to tell me. No need to be a liar liar pants on fire about it," she flipped her hair and popped the gum that was in her mouth. Amelie Riverain was an interesting character and not one many people would have thought to befriend the elusive Rei Hino. She suddenly sat up straight and gave Rei a serious look before lightly pushing her on her shoulder. "You know, we've been on the same archery team since middle school, I'd like to think we were friends at this point. You should at least be able to tell me what's bothering you."

Rei simply sighed. She's been distracted these past few weeks and her teammate has noticed. Amelie's been trying to get Rei to open up to her more lately and even if she could, she knew she shouldn't tell Amelie what's been bothering her. They'd all decided this would be their burden to shoulder, and theirs alone, not to involve anyone unnecessarily. And to tell Amelie what was bothering her, it would involve a lot of explanation stemming from that fact alone. "I'm serious, it's nothing for you to be concerned about."

"Ughh whatever, I'll get you to open up to me one day, Hino." She popped her gum again. Amelie was a socialite who happened to be on the same team as Rei. Her parents had encouraged her to become friends with the Senator's daughter once they found out, not that she needed any encouragement from them. She liked how different and cool Rei was. She also liked possessing pretty things, and having a pretty friend like Rei was no exception to that rule. "Anyway, before we head to the archery range after school I need to meet up with someone. I hope you don't mind waiting for me."

"No, I don't. Practice doesn't start until twenty minutes after school gets out anyway." Rei saw that there was only a minute until the bell indicating the start of class rang. She bent over to her right to get her notebook out of her backpack when some boy made a pass at her.

"Hey Hino, isn't that shirt cut a little too low for a princess like you? Not that I'm complaining, haha."

Rei could feel the blood rushing to her head. Like a trigger, her cool demeanor had went out the window. She opened her mouth to retort, but the teacher walked in at that moment. Realizing she almost lost it, she simply stared at the boy with her soul piercing violet eyes and he turned back around, wondering if any of his life decisions were worth the look he just got. Rei couldn't stand the boys at this school - she could barely make it through a conversation without one of them trying to make a move on her. At least the girls that tried to approach her weren't creepy about it. She couldn't help but think that he was lucky, for today could have been the day she finally snapped. But it wasn't, and she went back to unpacking her things for class.

...

The sound of a whistle blowing filled the gymnasium.

"Alright kids, game's over. Red team won this time. Now go get changed and get out of here." The gym teacher shooed the kids away, into the locker room. "Except for you Kino. Get over here."

The amazonian girl headed over to her coach. She really wanted to get out of her sweaty clothes and get going, but she couldn't exactly ignore her coach either. "Hey coach, what's up?"

"I hear you've joined another extracurricular?"

"Yeah, the cooking club." Her coach sighed, and she bit her lip in anticipation.

"I mean I guess the frilly stuff is okay, but don't let it get in the way of your true calling, alright kiddo? Wrestling conditioning starts in two weeks and I don't want to see you out of shape or missing practice. Now go get changed." Coach proceeded to shoo her away as well. Makoto sighed. She knew that this was going to happen. She did enjoy wrestling, but also felt happy being able to learn more about cooking, and knew that Coach wouldn't approve of a compromise. How did Coach find out anyway? He never bothered to talk to any other teacher that wasn't involved with sports… It was probably Tammy.

"Hurry up Makoto! I don't want to be late for the meeting!" A voice called out. She looked to see Sasha Johnson, her friend from the club. She was standing at the entrance of the locker room, already changed. She was in the progress of putting her curly hair into a ponytail.

"Sorry, sorry, Coach needed to talk to me."

"Ah, what about?"

"He didn't say much… just that he wants me to quit the club as soon as conditioning starts." Sasha's eyes widened, absolute terror striking her deep brown eyes.

"You're joking! You look like you're having fun at the meetings. Is there no compromise?"

"For a statewide champion sports team? Never. Besides, it's not like I have much of a choice. I guess it was fun while it lasted…"

"Uh-uh, no way. You are definitely staying in this club. You'll find a way, I'm sure." Makoto smiled. She didn't remember what it was like to have someone to talk to about these kinds of things until recently. The girls on her team weren't very friendly to her, and she couldn't blame them - some new girl came in into their team at the Varsity level without tryouts, taking one of their friends' spots. She hoped their coldness would let up, but it's been two years and still, nothing had changed.

"I guess… I'll just let time tell what'll happen." Sasha smiled back. It was strange for her. So many people judged a first glance finding her threatening and then suddenly a flurry of new friends happened upon her. And the best part was that they seemed to accept her for who she was. It was a blessing for Makoto in so many ways. She just wished they would be able to hang out in school. But at least at school she had Sasha who was actually her height, so no one could judge just her for that. The dark skinned girl had helped her settle into the club they were about to attend.

"Well hurry and get changed, I hear we're learning decorative cutting techniques!"

"Alright, alright…"

...

An olive skinned girl with blue green eyes checked her phone for the time. Her dark, wavy hair whipped when she turned to face her friend. "Yo Minako, where the hell is she? You know the coach wants us at practice ten minutes before everyone else."

"Chill Alloa, there she is. Amelie!" The peppy blonde called out to the socialite. The smile on her face widened when she saw who was in tow behind her. "Oh, what do we have here?"

"Hey hey, sorry class ran a little late. What did you need me for?" Amelie asked. Knowing these two girls, it probably had something to do with an upcoming party. The girl behind her caught up with her hesitantly. "Oh yeah, have you two met Rei Hino? Rei, this is Alloa Lelei."

"Pleased to meet ya." The olive skinned girl gave a big smile to Rei, who simply nodded in return.

"And this is Minako Aino."

"Oh, we've met before," Minako used a tone implying more than there actually was to the statement. She gave Rei a teasing smirk, and Rei's eyes widened, her face beginning to feel warmer. Minako had a penchant for flustering the girl.

"Sh-shush, you. What are you talking about, " Amelie looked at her fellow archer in confusion. She's never seen Rei become flustered before, or so easily. Upset, yes. But this?

"Whaaat? I'm just saying we've met before!" She winked at Rei.

"Well you didn't have to say it like that! Stop being so friendly..." Rei mumbled the last part, looking away from the red ribboned blonde, her face almost as red as the ribbon.

"Haha, you're cute when you're flustered Rei."

"I-I-I…"

"It's nice seeing glimpses of that fiery passion of yours out in public." Minako cackled at the reaction she got from Rei. Oh, she knew she was not going to hear the end of it at their meeting later, but it was too much fun. Besides, it wasn't like anyone was around to see it besides their two friends, right?

"Minako!"

Alloa and Amelie simply looked at each other in confusion as their friends went at it. They had no idea that they were so… friendly? They never thought, in a million lifetimes, that these two would ever even talk to each other let alone, from what they could tell, already be friends. But it also kind of seemed like something else. Almost in unison a mischievous look reached their eyes. Alloa cleared her throat.

"So we just wanted to let you know, Amelie," Alloa started talking suddenly, the other two becoming silent, putting their attention on her. "That we are having a Homecoming party after the football game this Friday at Brett's place. We were hoping you could get us some of the stuff we need for the party, we'll pay you back if we need to. We know it's not a lot of time, but you we trust you could do it. And… you feel free to come too, Hino."

Rei, already frozen realizing that the other two had been listening to their conversation, looked at Alloa. She was taken aback at the sudden invite, Alloa noted. Rei wasn't normally asked to go to these things. She simply nodded, overwhelmed by the situation she was in.

"Okay, sounds good! You should definitely come Rei, it'll be fun! Plus you need to get out more, your grandpa even thinks so. Alright, let's get going to practice, we got some bull's eyes to hit!" She began to literally drag Rei away from the spot she was frozen to. Minako snickered as she watched her get dragged away. So what if they weren't supposed to act friendly at school? Just this one instance couldn't hurt… right? She turned to head towards the gym only to see Alloa's face smiling knowingly. Minako sighed. If only it had been that one instance.

"So the garbage the rumor mill has been spewing lately is true? I didn't think I could believe it, but wow," Alloa nudged her fellow volleyball player. They began walking towards the gym.

"What do you mean?" Minako was genuinely curious. She was used to being the subject of the rumor mill's interest, almost always hearing the news about her right away. They were both star players on the varsity volleyball team; some of the few girls on it that have been there since their freshman year. The volleyball girls were notorious partiers and had been in charge of spreading word about them when their school season was on. A lot of parties for Minako meant a lot of gossip being spread. But she apparently hadn't heard the latest about her.

"It's some new stuff, but word on the street is that the blonde sex bomb Minako Aino has been trying to talk up the school's precious jewel Rei Hino." Minako momentarily froze in her tracks.

"Is… is that really what they call me? God, these people really do like to exaggerate, it's not like I do it all the time." She joked, continuing forward. Alloa rolled her eyes.

"That's not the point Minako, but yes, it is what some of them do. Are you trying to get into Hino's pants?"

"No, that's not what I'm trying to do. We just happen to be on friendly terms is all."

"Uh huh, friendly. Right. Minako, whatever you're doing is working." Minako rolled her eyes.

"You don't believe me… and what do you mean it's working?"

"Look. Hino has only been friendly with Amelie these past few years, and barely at that. Yet here you are, teasing this... ethereal goddess creature and you still have your limbs." Minako had stopped again in her tracks, this time not moving forward at all. Alloa turned around to face her, walking backwards while doing so.

"...Ethereal goddess creature?"

"Come on Minako, you know she's a total dime. Like, outrageously so. Like, she makes all us other dimes at this school look like nickels in comparison to her."

"... You're really making me question your alleged Kinsey 0 status."

"Stop trying to change the subject. Just because I don't want to make out with you at parties doesn't mean I'm a Kinsey 0, I'm more like a 0.2. But seriously, I'm certain most straight girls and gay men would accept a chance to be with Hino. Which is why I approve of your choice, no matter how difficult it would be to smash then dash." Minako shook her head and started walking again. Her friend's crudeness about the matter would normally be amusing, but this topic was touchy for Minako.

"Look, I'm not trying to get into her pants, okay? She's a friend and that is that." Alloa side eyed her and kept moving along backwards.

"Okay, so explain the fact that you turned Brett down at the last party. And Lee at the one before that. And turning down a threesome with Johnny and Candace?" Minako shrugged.

"That doesn't necessarily mean I'm trying to get with her. I mean it could be that I've just been thinking of giving up the casual sex li- ouch!" Minako bumped into Alloa, who had frozen in her tracks, wide eyed.

"No freaking way, you did not just say that. The world is ending. The world. Is ending. First the meteor and then those freaking superheroes and monsters and now this. What is happening? Look, don't even answer that because I refuse to believe any of this conversation is real anymore." Minako laughed, playfully shoving the green eyed girl.

"Geez, I've done it casually a few times and now you're treating me like a nympho. Are you done questioning me, interrogator?"

"Not quite." Minako groaned.

"What now?"

"So I've actually been noticing you have some other new friends too. Nothing from the rumor mill, although I doubt they haven't noticed, but just me. It's kind of weird, yo. I mean, Tsukino I can understand, but Kino and Mizuno?"

"Ah… well, see that's umm," Minako was struggling for a good answer. They all blew it; there would be no way to cover their tracks, so she figured it was best to be as ambiguous as possible given the situation. "Well, we found that we have a common interest and have been meeting up after school. That's why I'm also sort of friends with Rei. But don't say anything to other people because I don't even want to imagine what the rumor mills would come up with."

"You guys are hanging out after school?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Like what, are you guys starting some sort of club for girls that look ambiguously ethnic but are actually Japanese?" Minako glared at Alloa, who simply shrugged. "I'm just saying, it's strange. But whatever, if you aren't telling me things then there's obviously some good reason. Just make sure you get into Hino's pants at Brett's shindig so you can get back to normal."

"Oh for the love of - I'm not trying have sex with her, stop enabling these things!" Minako hit her palm against her forehead as Alloa cackled, running off to the gym. Minako sighed and turned around to look at where all this trouble had started. She turned back around and ran after Alloa. She really wasn't trying to get Rei to have casual, meaningless sex with her because if she did, she wasn't really sure it would be all that meaningless anymore.

...

"Oh gooood these cookies are always delicious, Makoto." Usagi started stuffing her face with another one while the brunette chuckled. Usagi, Ami, Minako and Makoto were gathered around the table in Makoto's kitchen, casually chatting about their days.

"There's more where that came from, Usagi. Hey, do you two want some?" Her attentioned turn towards the cats in Ami and Minako's laps. The black cat in Ami's lap, Luna, looked towards Makoto, the crescent moon similar to Moonbeam's symbol on the top of her forehead. Makoto was still trying to get over the fact that they were being guided by sentient, talking cat things.

"Yes, I would love one."

"Me too!" A male voice appeared from Minako's lap. The white cat Artemis who had a matching symbol peered over the table in anticipation. She passed a cookie to each of them. Ami stroked Luna while Luna munched on her treat.

"You know, while we're waiting for Rei, I have a question for you two."

"Yes?"

"Are you two just cats that can talk? Or something else entirely different from our world's cats?"

The two cats gave each other a look and sighed. Artemis gave Luna a look that indicated for her to speak up. "In all honesty, we aren't quite sure yet-"

The door slammed open, a fuming Rei walking through the door. Minako tensed up, letting out a guilty laugh as Rei came marching towards her.

"You! You did this! Amelie's acting insufferable!" She violently pointed her finger at Minako, shaking it for emphasis. Minako, incredibly tense, began harshly stroking the cat in her lap, much to his dismay.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. Come Rei you're late the meeting has started take a seat did archery run late is that why you're late?" Rei was glaring at her with such an intensity Minako swore she was going to burn her to a crisp. She kept her eyes on the other blonde sitting in front of her. Usagi cocked her head like a puppy, taking a bite out of another cookie as she looked back at the tense Minako. The antics didn't usually start until well into the meeting. This was a first. Luna and Ami both sighed at the same time and Makoto was holding back a laugh.

"You know what you did," Rei whispered coldly before taking a seat next to Usagi. Her glare was still stuck on Minako, and the blonde could only imagine what she must have went through after they parted ways earlier that day. Minako gulped before relaxing and cleared her throat.

"But speaking of what I did, that's what I wanted to talk about to start off the meeting," all eyes were on her now. Rei scoffed.

"Your embarrassing behavior?" Minako ignored the comment.

"Luna, Artemis, I know we all had agreed that at the beginning of this all that we would carry on with our normal lives as much as possible as to not give away any of our secrets about who we are. We thought that any deviation to what was seen as our normal behavior would seem off to those around us and possibly put them in harms way, right?" She looked towards the cats and then at everyone else. She continued on,

"Well, I think what we didn't take into account how close we would get in what has been almost two months of getting to know each other. People have been talking about the exchanges that, although we didn't mean to have them, were made at school. And on my way here, I couldn't help but think that our peers either aren't as ignorant as they seem but are nosier than we would like. Regardless, I think that at this point, it would be more suspicious if we went along being secretive about our new friendships than it would be just to own up to it. Because at this rate, it looks like we won't be capable of just acting as we were before." She looked around the room again. Everyone was in deep thought as they looked back at her. She let out a brief sigh as she waited for a response.

"Does this have something to do with what Rei was talking about? You all have been talking at school?" Artemis finally asked, looking back up towards his owner. She nodded, but another response came from a different end of the table.

"It's not really as if we can help it. It's like Minako said, it's hard not to want to be with your friends when you see them. It just happens without us realizing it," Makoto loosely gripped at the sides of her chair, wishing she could squeeze it but knowing full well that it would crumble in her hands.

"I agree with Minako and Makoto too! I want to be able to talk to you guys at school without it being weird! I mean I know it'll be weird at first but after awhile people will think it's normal, right?" Usagi looked eagerly at Ami and Rei, who simply nodded in unison. Luna looked at Artemis before she hopped onto the table. He followed suit shortly after.

"I trust the decision you girls are about to make, but I hope you go through with it wisely. We have talked about this possibility before, Artemis and I. We just want to advise you to do it gradually."

"Right," Artemis began to add on. "We need you girls to be discrete if people start questioning you. Answer questions ambiguously, just like the reporters. Got it?"

They all nodded. Ami then cleared her throat before speaking. "Now, I have two orders of business before we go off to patrol. First, have you two recovered any new memories yet?"

Artemis shook his head. "It's all still the same thing. When the meteor entered Earth's atmosphere, we, as cats, suddenly remembered that we needed to find these super powered beings and guide them in their quest to protect the innocent beings of this planet. Then we managed to get you five together. Nothing new."

Ami pursed her lips for a brief second before moving on. It was strange not getting the answers to her questions that she needed. "Secondly, any new updates on the creatures that invaded this planet?"

"From the trends we've seen, their attacks are becoming more frequent and the amount of monsters more abundant. And from what Usagi and Makoto said, they seemed to be getting stronger." Luna turned to face Usagi and Makoto, trying to get them to continue.

"Oh, uh. It's not like they were a lot stronger than the ones before, but the ones we fought yesterday actually did require both our efforts. There were just too many for Makoto to do by herself without getting hurt or overexerting, so I joined in as soon as I could." Usagi finished the cookie in her hand and grabbed another. Ami began tapping her fingers on the table, her mind concentrating.

"But just what are these creatures and what do they want with Crystalline?"

...

It was well before school started, but these three transfer students wanted to explore the campus so they wouldn't get lost on their first day.

"All right! Who's ready for a high school education!?" A skinny, well-dressed teenaged boy asked the two of his friends with him. He stretched as high as he could, his breath visible from the early morning chill. His sandy haired friend shook his head,

"Oh Mag- er, Marcel. You aren't going to make any friends with the kids here if you talk like that."

"You want to make friends with these vile creatures?"

"Hey, might as well have a good time experiencing humanity while we're on this planet looking for these Lunar Force fuckers. Besides, it'll make our job easier to have human friends who might know a secret about those freaks. Friends will make our job go by faster." They reached the gates of the school. A few girls passed by the trio and giggled, blushing at the sandy haired one. Their female friend with the colorful hair raised an eyebrow.

"What's this? Looks like you're going to be popular with the ladies, Trent," He chuckled.

"I plan on using that to my advantage here. And looks like you've caught some attention too, Avalon," he finished his sentence as a group of guys looked her over once and nodded approvingly to their pals.

"It's probably just cause my hair's basically a rainbow that any of them are noticing me. Besides, they're chumps compared to you, Trent."

"Chumps? God we're going to have to get you up to speed with the slang around here. Those dated high school movies haven't done you any favors. Come on, we got some high schooler life force to absorb."

* * *

I didn't realize how lengthy this first chapter was going to be, haha. Please feel free to leave some constructive criticisms about my style and writing, because I do hope this story becomes as cool as I hope it could. I apologize for any blatant exposition in this and upcoming chapters, but once the universe is set up completely I feel like it'll flow smoother. Thanks for reading! See you next chapter!


	2. Feelings, Pins, and that Douchebag Trent

Let's be real here, I wasn't even thinking that I _might_ put my favorite couple in here, I already knew I was. And I definitely couldn't wait. Enjoy chapter 2!

* * *

Minako couldn't sleep that night. Not for the life of her. It's been this way for the past two nights as well. Her mind just kept her awake, the inner turmoil keeping her from sleep. She normally enjoyed the night and all of the implications that came with it: The nightlife, the late night talks, the late night thoughts, the stars that could be seen despite light pollution… it brought life to her. Of course, she normally chose when to experience these parts of the night life, the other times she opted for sleep. These current late night thoughts hadn't been welcomed in the slightest.

"_Minako, whatever you're doing is working."_

She cringed, her friend's words invading her mind for the umpteenth time. She flipped over onto her stomach and groaned into her pillow. She wasn't trying to do anything, she kept repeating. No ulterior motive, not a single plan - so what was it about those words that bothered her so greatly? She wanted to ask Alloa what she meant by that, she really did. But that only meant Minako was asking for more prodding, and since that Monday there had been more than she'd ever wanted. Besides, Minako already had a clue at what she meant by it.

She internally cringed as the phrase repeated in her mind again. The thing that greatly bothered her about her friend's words were that it implied that Rei Hino was just going to be like the rest of her flings. Minako's unnatural levels of charm had made it easy for her to choose as she pleases in the past. If there was one thing that Minako knew from the get go about this girl is that she was unlike anyone else she had ever interacted with before, and Alloa implying that she was going to be just like the rest of them… Minako wasn't sure it was going to be that easy or even if she wanted it to be that easy.

"For _what_ to be easy?" The sleepless blonde asked no one in particular as she sat up quickly. The groan that followed echoed throughout the room and so did the small poof of her pillow as she fell back. These questions had been plaguing her throughout the night. What did Minako want? Did she actually want Rei Hino?

She sat up again and shook her head, running her hands through her hair. Rei Hino is a very, very attractive person, there was no doubt about that. But they were friends, nothing more.

_But that never stopped you with any of your other attractive friends before this. What makes her so different?_

The girl huffed. It was obvious, wasn't it? They just became friends recently and their whole group was still just trying to figure things out. A small fling could throw everything off and complicate things, especially for the much more physically reserved girl… right?

_But you never even bothered asking. All you do is flirt and, like Alloa said, it seems like it's working. If she's completely consenting, how would it complicate it?_

It just would, okay?

_Okay Mina, what's really bothering you?_

Minako groaned again, upset that her subconscious was making all of this so difficult for her - she really missed sleeping at this point. But this cycle of asking unwanted questions and avoiding answers kept persisting until, eventually, she would reach over to the watch on her nightstand. And this night was no different. She pressed the button on its side and whispered.

"Hey Artemis, can I join your patrol?" She could hear the cat pause in his steps before continuing forward.

"Minako? It's almost two, why are you still up? It's also pretty quiet tonight so I don't think it's necessary for-"

"Can't sleep again, been restless tonight. I'm gonna catch up with you, alright?" She heard him sigh.

"Fine Minako, only if it'll help you sleep. I expect you to get here quickly."

Minako made a noncommittal noise to indicate her answer before the communicator beeped off. She jumped out of bed and put the communicator on her wrist. Artemis shouldn't have been surprised by her request tonight - she'd asked the same of him for the past two when she couldn't sleep then. And each of those nights he would always ask the same thing - what was keeping her up? And she would reply, just my thoughts. And each of those nights he would give her that same questioning look that she refused to acknowledge - tonight was not going to be any different.

She put her hand under her nightshirt and squeezed the pin in the shape of the symbol of Venus dangling from the piercing in her navel. An orange light surrounded her momentarily. When it faded, in its place was the familiar garb characterized by the leather jacket and chain. She paused for a moment to look at herself in her floor length mirror before heading towards the window. She knew that her life was going to change when Artemis helped her realize her powers all those months ago, but she didn't think it would change in this way. In some ways, she was settled on a certain lifestyle however, and any threat to this lifestyle is something she would want to avoid… even if it meant keeping her up all night, trying her hardest to avoid the reality of the situation.

She opened her window and popped the loose screen off, placing it gently on the floor. She then proceeded to jump out of her room on the second floor, landing quietly on the dirt on the side of her house. She hopped the gate on the side of her house and ran full speed to where Artemis was. Every night, as she ran to Artemis, her subconscious kept screaming words that she would try ignoring. That this situation was kind of a metaphor, that it was symbolic of her running away from the truth that she was in denial. And she would try to keep denying it, denying all of it: the attraction, the lust, the want, the growing need for romantic affection. At this point, she would swear on her mother's grave that she only wanted to be friends with the girl who was the Fire Maiden because that would be so much easier for the girl who always got what she wanted. If she never wanted Rei to begin with, she would never have to worry about not getting what she wants.

…

Minako dragged herself past one of the entrances to the school. She managed to get a whopping two hours of sleep before she had to get up to get ready. She would have snoozed the alarm, but Artemis was adamant that she get to school on time since he felt responsible for keeping her out. As she inched her way to the front doors of the building of her first class, she noticed the cause of her insomnia just through those glass doors.

Rei hadn't even tried to speak to Minako since their meeting on Monday, despite the blonde's efforts. The only time Rei ever responded was for business matters and even then it was rarely to her. Minako had understood that Rei probably didn't want to talk to her after her outburst on Monday in order to save face, and had stopped trying after a dismal attempt the following day that only led to her being even more ignored. Maybe it was the growing lack of sleep, but Minako decided to approach her today. What were all the sleepless nights for if she couldn't even interact with her friend? She quickened her pace and entered the building.

"Good morning Rei!" Minako called out to the girl, who paused momentarily when she heard her name but otherwise kept trekking down the hallway. Minako smiled mischievously, acting as if nothing had changed in the past few days. The purple haired girl, feeling her presence, stopped and turned to look at Minako. Minako beamed at her, glad for the acknowledgment. She waited for a response, but Rei just stared back with a blank expression on her face.

"You could say good morning back, y'know," Minako approached her, keeping her smile. Even if she was going to try and set things right, she couldn't help but tease the other girl. It just felt natural. Rei simply scowled in response and began to turn back around, only to face Minako again as she took in the sight before her. Minako shifted around, uncomfortable at the sudden scrutiny Rei's gaze put her under.

"Minako, you look terrible."

Minako felt as if an anvil was dropped on her as her face became comedically exasperated. Minako saw that Rei's demeanor changed in an instant and the mysterious girl began attempting to apologize. "I just meant, your eye bags are huge so, I mean, you normally look good- not that you aren't right no- I meant that you're normally put together and look nicer - why am I even trying to talk to you, I'm mad at you."

Minako giggled, glad that Rei was responding normally despite the situation. "Wow, I barely have to say anything and you still get flustered. But it's fine, I know I look terrible. I barely got any sleep, like two hours or something, and I didn't get to put on any concealer."

Rei looked at her once more before turning around. "Well, if that's it then, good morning and goodbye." Minako panicked, not wanting to waste this opportunity. She thought quickly, an idea coming to mind.

"Ohoho no you don't. Now that I have your attention, I wanted to ask if you're going to my volleyball game today." Another pause as Rei turned around, her face looking mildly astonished.

"Wait you have a volleyball game today and you only got two hours of sleep? What's wrong with you?"

Minako couldn't help but smile at her concern, despite the fact that she was apparently still upset. "It's okay, I'll manage. If sophomore year taught me anything, it was how to properly function on 30 minutes of sleep. And besides, I could catch up on sleep during class."

Rei rolled her eyes. "Look, even if I wanted to go to your game, I have archery practice around that time."

"But the others will be there! Please?"

Rei sighed and began to walk away. Minako could sense that Rei was finished with this conversation, but she didn't want it to end there.

"Wait!" Minako pleaded. Out of reflex, she grabbed Rei's wrist, feeling a slight spark at the contact. She could also feel Rei tensing greatly at the contact. They both looked at each other and, realizing they were acting too friendly out in public again, quickly pulled their arms away. There was a small, achingly awkward pause while Minako thought of something to say. She didn't like the way they were acting with one another, and she just wanted things to go back to the way they were already. She spoke gently to Rei. "I… Look I get that what happened must have been embarrassing for you. And knowing Amelie, she must still be harassing you. Just please consider coming today, at least for the sake of our new goal. You know, to publicly become friends at school. And, after the game we could try to talk out whatever you're still mad at me for. At least consider it?"

Rei's face shifted to an expression that was unreadable, and Minako looked hopefully towards her. Her expression verged on disappointment when Rei just quickly turned around and walked off, not even acknowledging what she said. Perhaps she came on too strong? But she couldn't help how Rei made her act. Minako huffed. She missed their silly banter, and, as refreshing as this interaction was, it just reminded her of it. She crossed her arms as she walked slowly in the direction of her homeroom.

But why did she miss it? What was there to miss? She just wanted her friend to be friends with her again. Yeah, that had to be it. People lose sleep over their friends, right? Her mind flashed back to the brief moment her hand grabbed her wrist and her heart began to flutter at the thought, the muscles on her face involuntarily tugging at her lips, a small smile forming. That small smile instantly tightened as she pursed her lips. There really was no way in hell she could deny it now.

_Oh good lord almighty, help me._

She gulped as she slowed her breathing in attempt to bring her heartbeat back to normal and relax her face.

_Who the hell have I been trying to fool? Myself? I like the damn girl._

Minako sighed, admitting defeat. As hard as she tried, there was no way to deny it in the face of cold, hard evidence. The fluttering heart, the sleepless nights, the constant temptation to tease. It was the basic definition of your schoolgirl affections. The way she acted around her only made sense now. There really was no way to deny it now. She let out another sigh.

_Look on the bright side, maybe I'll actually get some sleep tonight._

She sighed inwardly, knowing this wasn't going to be the case. If anything it would just cause her to ask new, different questions. Questions she really did not want to think about at this very moment.

She began to walk up the stairs, dreading their awfulness. She may be a star athlete, she may have a supernatural amount of strength, but they still weren't enough to get rid of the taxing quality of stairs. Half way up the stairs, she heard someone call out her name.

"Hey, Minako!" The smooth voice came from behind her. She sighed, way too emotionally and mentally drained to have to talk to someone else before she got her first nap in. She turned around to see that sandy haired boy that transferred to the school a few days ago. From what she gathered, he was your typical hunky piece of mancandy. He was kind of an asshole too, so of course he was quickly accepted into the group of boys Minako tended to socialize with at parties. What could he possibly want right now, though?

"Ah, good morning… Trent, was it?" He smirked at her, as if her remembering his name was a giant boost to his ego.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey listen, who was that chick you were just talking to a moment ago."

"Huh?" Minako was caught off guard. Due to recent discoveries, she wasn't sure if she was fit to talk about Rei at the moment.

"Long hair, purple eyes, great legs - you know the one." She narrowed her eyes at him, who didn't seem to notice.

"You mean Rei Hino?"

"Ah, so that's who that is? Wow, the guys were right. Hottest chick at this school - er, no offense," she noticed he was staring just below her eyes, at her eye bags. It took all her self control not to snap at him. "You friends with her?"

"Yeah I am, so could you not talk about her like that?"

"Just saying it how it is, Aino. She gonna be at the party this weekend?"

"Well, she's invited but, knowing her, I highly doubt it. I need to get to class right now, but I'll see you around." She walked away from him, annoyed and upset. She didn't appreciate guys talking about her friends exclusively like pieces of meat, so hearing him talk about Rei like that really ticked her off. And there was just something about him that seemed off. But she didn't have the energy or patience to deal with it in a civil manner, so she left it at that.

He watched her walk away, his eyes lingering on the sway of her hips as she went up the stairs. She was pretty good looking too, but nowhere near the Hino girl: she was on another level. Trent could feel a weight on his shoulders as hands suddenly pressed down on them.

"Checking Aino's prime assets, bro?" The voice of his new pal Brett came from behind. Brett shook Trent's shoulders a few times before continuing. "Because I gotta say, all those years of volleyball have only done her good. Thighs of steel and an ass to die for, my man."

Trent chuckled and shook his head. He wasn't sure what to expect of these humans at first, but the ones he befriended were definitely his type of people. They started walking up the stairs. "Yeah, yeah she's nice to look at and all but… I finally saw that Hino girl."

Brett raised an eyebrow. "Oh did you? What did we say man, hottest chick in this place. And at a school full of dime pieces, that really is saying something."

"I think I'm gonna try getting at that. Shouldn't be too hard, right?"

Brett stopped in his tracks and gave Trent a serious look. "Dude, were you even listening to us when we were talking about her? She is untouchable. No guy has been able to get past the wall she put up - if they get too close she freezes them up with that icy stare of hers. I don't think she even talks to guys if she can avoid it. Most of us are convinced she's probably a lesbian, but that doesn't stop us from looking. Look, but don't touch."

Brett looked towards his new friend and saw a look of determination. "I don't know man, that just sounds like a challenge. A challenge that I'm willing to take on."

Brett shook his head. "I don't know man, if you just want to get laid Aino would probably be a better bet for a good looking bro such as yourself. Actually I take that back too, she's been shifty about that stuff lately - well whatever - that's besides the point. I'm just warning you that this ain't gonna be easy, and I doubt it's even possible. But from the looks of it I'm guessing it won't stop you."

Trent smirked, a knowing look reaching his eyes. "Not at all."

…

The girls on the court wearing baby blue cheered momentarily as they earned another point. The Crystal Center Guardians varsity volleyball team were halfway through their second game; they beat the South High Sharks in the first game and were already up by 5 points in this one. Minako set herself into position while her teammate prepared to serve the ball. She was hyped up on multiple shots of espresso and raring to go, yet despite the focus she needed, there was something constantly tugging at the back of her mind. She took a quick glance over at the stands. She spotted Usagi, Ami, and Makoto sitting in the middle of the bleachers, all of them smiling and cheering her on, but still no Rei. She quickly look back on the court as she heard her teammate serve.

"She's not focusing." Makoto stated, her eyes watching her friend closely.

"I don't know what you're talking about, she's been playing perfectly this whole time," Ami noted as her friend bumped the ball over to Alloa.

"Makoto's right, Ami. She's usually the one cheering her teammates on and rallies them. Right now she's really quiet," Usagi watched with worry, but that worry disappeared as soon as Minako spiked the ball hard onto the rival team's side. She had been to a few of Minako's other games before and knew that regardless of what's going on inside her mind, she would always bring her A-game. Another point was added to the Guardians' scoreboard. She cheered loudly and Minako looked back over to her, smirking.

"She has been getting more quiet as the game went on. Do you think this has to do with a lack of a certain person?" Ami asked thoughtfully. She and Rei had been acting weird ever since the meeting earlier this week.

"You mean… Rei?" Makoto whispered the last part to not draw attention. People had already given these three strange looks once they entered the gym together.

"Mhm. Whatever caused their fight, it's been really tense between them."

"Yeah, now that you mention it has been a little more quiet during meetings, huh?" Usagi pondered on it. Now that she thought about it, the two hadn't been talking much. Usagi had just taken that fateful Monday as another usual spat between the two, but apparently she was wrong. Usually Minako joined along when Usagi pestered Rei, but this time around she had been avoiding it completely to talk about things like future strategies with Ami or battle tactics with Makoto. It made her sad thinking about it. She sighed and looked back towards the game. Minako and another teammate had just blocked an attempt of the Sharks to spike. The three girls cheered once they saw this.

Cheering as well in the very back corner of the bleachers were the new transfer students. Trent and Avalon were watching the game with intent, while Marcel looked at the two of them in disgust.

"Bless whoever invented volleyball and spandex." Trent muttered to himself for the third time today, his eyes not particularly on the movement of the ball.

"You look at these girls like they're meat," Marcel stated, observing the look on Trent's face. It was that familiar look he got on his face before he and Avalon…

"It's because these humans are all just meat, and their energy is ours for the consumption. Why aren't you with your meatbag friends right now? there they are over there," Avalon pointed to the rowdy group of boys in the front.

"I told them I was with my family friends. But really I wanted to show you guys someone important."

"Well the game's going to be over soon at this rate. Are you sure that important person's going to be here?"

"Yes! I'm sure I heard her and Aino talking about it earlier, I wouldn't have brought you here otherwise. That girl's a dime."

"You keep saying that word, what the hell is a dime or a dime piece or whatever," Marcel looked at Trent, obviously bored out of his mind and hating that fact that he was here.

"It means someone is a ten out of ten on the hotness scale, like me. Then you got your nickels, someone who's five out of ten on the hotness scale, like you." Avalon laughed as Marcel scowled.

"You brought us here to see a fuc-"

"OH SHIT that was a nice save by Aino. That girl is good." Avalon noted as Minako made a seemingly impossible dive for the ball. Marcel groaned.

"I'm serious, I could be back at home doing this stupid homework stuff that we keep being assigned."

"But to answer your question - no, Marcel, it's not just the fact that she's hot. I plan on claiming her." Avalon's attention immediately left the game and went to Trent. Claiming was serious business among their kind.

"Is she seriously all that?" Marcel asked as Avalon gaped.

"You tell me." He pointed at the girl coming in frantically. Avalon's eyes widened, a certain glint forming.

"Oh my… she's beautiful. What's her name?" Trent chuckled.

"I know that look, you greedy bitch. And just know that I've called dibs on Rei Hino, so don't even think about doing anything."

"I know that name... she's in my English class! I technically saw her first, so shouldn't I be allowed to claim her?"

"She's in your English class and you didn't say anything earlier. So no."

"I've only seen the back of her head in that class, how was I supposed to know how hot she is?"

"You two should just fight for her, fight to the death. It'd be more entertaining than this sports crap. And honestly, I don't know why you're wasting your time with these people, they might lose their life force today anyway if all goes according to plan," Marcel mumbled, rolling his eyes. It's like these two forgot about their mission entirely once they entered this school.

"That's a great idea. First one to claim her wins her. And we can't have sex with each other either in the meantime, that'd be cheating on my part," Avalon looked with worry while Marcel looked at them with disgust. They had a really weird relationship, these two. And he hated hearing about the sexual parts of it, glad his room was nowhere near their rooms back at the house.

"Are… you sure about the last part Trent? I've heard things about her and it won't be easy for either of us to even talk to her, let alone get her to bed. You know how you get when you haven't had sex daily, and quite frankly it's a little scary." Trent shook his head.

"Yeah, you're even more of an asshole than you are now." Marcel added.

"Don't worry, I have an advantage and you know it, Avalon. And don't you worry either Marcel. This isn't just about getting her to sleep with me. Once that's over, I'll let Dux have her life force or use her as she pleases. Multiple problems solved." They both sighed. That seemed to shut the both of them up and he turned his attention to the mysterious girl that was talking to her friends.

"Rei! What are you doing here I thought you had practice! Minako's going to be so pumped when she sees you." Usagi beamed at her friend. The people surrounding them gave them strange looks, whispering into each other's ears. Rei ignored them and kept her attention on her friends.

"Do you all have your pins?" She kept her voice low, the expressions on everyone else's faces changed.

"Is something happening?" Makoto whispered. Rei shook her head.

"Not yet anyway. I felt… I felt the darkness of the enemy approaching and I couldn't take any risks. If my senses are right-"

"-which they usually are-" Usagi interjected.

"-then we have the right to believe that they could be here at any moment." There was alarm on Makoto and Usagi's face, both of whom began to rise before Ami put her hands in front of them, motioning for them to stay seated.

"We need to stay here and watch the game until something happens. It'll be suspicious of us to leave before anything happens, since we're more noticeable if we leave while the games' going on. Once they appear, we'll get there in time to fight them off, even if we leave during the chaos that always ensues during their appearance." This convinced the two girls, who relaxed into their seats again, Usagi motioning for Rei to sit next to her. She opened her mouth to make an excuse to go, but Usagi only motioned more rapidly. Rei looked apprehensively towards Minako and then the exit of the gym before finally taking the seat. All four tried to focus as they waited for the inevitable, all of them trying to get into the game.

The Guardians only needed three more points before they wrapped this game up. Minako was the one serving this time around. She tiredly glanced over to her group of friends and saw a flash of violet eyes and deep purple hair. She smirked to herself, a rush of adrenaline coming over her, making her feel a million times better now. She took several steps behind the serving line and began walking forward, throwing the ball straight up into the air. She ran several steps before jumping, her hand hitting the ball at the right moment and the ball whizzed through the air, hitting the opposite side of the court before she even made it back to the ground. The crowd cheered as well as the rest of her team. Minako flashed a dazzling smile to the crowd, scanning it before throwing up a V-sign when her eyes connected with the violet ones. Rei couldn't help but she shake her head in amusement, before catching herself and stopping. Ami took note of this.

Minako served two more times, with the same results. The Guardians all gathered on their side of the court to hug one another before they did their ritual of after game pleasantries with the Sharks. The three transfer students got up slowly and headed out, the sandy haired one looking back at Rei one more time and smiled to himself before walking out. Everyone else was getting up and began to wander outside of the gym to loiter until the girls they were rooting for were ready to get going. Everyone except for four girls, who remained seated on the bleachers. They all were looking towards Rei.

"When's it gonna happen, Rei?" Usagi prodded at the girl whose eyes were closed. She didn't really understand how the fire-user's power of premonition worked, so she couldn't help but be a little impatient as she waited for results.

"Just give her a moment," Makoto calmly stated, pulling Usagi back to give Rei some room. To anyone else who could see her, she just seemed to be staring off into space, but in reality she was concentrating on what was beyond physically in front of them. She was looking past the physical and into the realm of feeling, utilizing her powers of premonition. And right now, she could feel the darkness that had approached her earlier coming… coming…

"They're coming now, they'll be here any moment." She said suddenly, all of their demeanors changing.

"We need to go then." Usagi stated as she began to pick up her backpack.

"Do you know from where?" Ami asked as she and Makoto joined in gathering their belongings.

"From what I could sense, it would be wherever there was the most people." Ami nodded knowingly.

"So right outside of the gym?" Makoto asked. The two of them nodded.

"Right. The three of us," Ami began, indicating herself as well as Makoto and Usagi, "will head to the rooftop to transform and wait. Rei, you should fill Minako in so she knows what's going on." Rei was taken aback as she looked in disbelief at the straight faced Ami. She did not want to deal with Minako in any way at the moment, even if it was a matter of business, but the ever intelligent Ami knew this was for the best.

"What, no-"

"Well, someone needs to fill our leader in," Usagi smiled knowingly.

"But why-"

"The more you argue the less time we have. The three of us will be fine until you two get there. Hell, we might even take care of them before then. Besides, you are going to have to talk to her eventually," Makoto whispered the last part but loudly enough that the four of them still heard it. Rei stood there slack jawed as the other three began to leave, Makoto winking at her as they exited. She didn't like what they were implying, but she knew Makoto was right. She sighed as she made her way towards Minako.

…

The three girls exited the back entrance of the gym, Ami doing a quick survey of the area before telling Makoto and Usagi to move forward.

"Let's get to the rooftop of the Sciences Building. It's the closest building to the front entrance of the gym and it'll give us a vantage point as well as cover when we transform," Ami looked back, seeing if the other two agreed. Makoto nodded once, setting her sights towards the rooftop.

"And it'll be perfect for our dramatic entrances," Usagi grinned goofily at the thought, the other two shaking their heads. Ami assumed that was yes from her as well as she signaled for them to head towards the Sciences Building.

She nudged the handles of the entrance to the building and, as Ami suspected, the doors were still open. They quickly ran through the building and headed up the stairs. The building was deserted, save for the occasional teacher in the classroom that didn't notice the girls quietly running down the hallways. Once they reached the door to the rooftop, Ami nudged it again and noted that this door was locked. As she suspected. Before Makoto could even suggest kicking it down, she focused her vision on the lock, pushing and pulling its inner workings with her mind. She nudged the door again and, to no ones surprise, it opened. They entered the rooftop, scanning their new surrounding.

"Let's transform!" Usagi exclaimed once she deemed it safe enough to, pressing the crescent shaped, yellow pin dangling from her charm bracelet. A white light engulfed her, Moonbeam appearing once the light faded. Ami nodded, pressing the blue symbol of Mercury that hid on the silver ring she wore on her left hand. A blue light began to engulf her as well, Gray Matter appearing as the light faded.

Makoto looked at the two of them as she toyed with the green pin in the shape of the symbol of Jupiter that was pinned to a chain in her necklace. She remembered the day Luna had explained that pin to her. As soon as she got over the whole talking cat thing, it was the first thing she explained.

She said that, although they all had their powers in their civilian forms, it was important to keep their identities a secret. These upcoming evils were ruthless and could get personal, targeting any loved ones that they can find out about. These pins would help them to transform into disguises that would magically mask their identity. No matter if the gear that was obstructing their face was removed, as long as they were transformed into their hero identities, no one would know who they really were. Which only made sense to Makoto, considering how weird she found it that no one could put together that Ami, the only blue haired teenager in all of Crystalline, was also Gray Matter, the only blue haired superhero. These pins would also never come off of wherever you decided to keep it pinned to unless its owner willed it so. Luna explained it was just a measure to make sure it never got lost, but it was one all of them were grateful for, considering how small the pins actually were.

As she saw Gray Matter appear, Makoto pressed the pin, a green light absorbing her. Once it vanished, in Makoto's wake, Crash Girl appeared. Screams of terror could be heard in front of the gym and they all peered over the rooftop edge. Crash Girl smirked as she put her hands on her hips.

"Right on cue, right guys? Let's go crush some evil ass."

…

Meanwhile, Minako headed over to their team's bench, trailing behind Alloa. After all the physical exertion and adrenaline rushes and the lack of sleep, she felt herself ready to crash. The rest of their team had already headed out, the two of them were lingering behind to talk to their coach, who had just left.

"Hey Minako, you okay?" Alloa turned to face her as she picked up her dufflebag from under a seat.

"Yeah, just a little tired," Minako tried to shrug it off but couldn't help but notice a hint of a playful glint in her friend's eye. "What's with your face?"

"Noooothing, I just hope you have a little more energy to function before you crash. Because, well, you know," she leaned her head in as Minako finally reached the bench and whispered, "total hottie alert, right behind you. I'll see you later, Aino-gator."

Minako turned her head to see a "total hottie" was indeed approaching, albeit reluctantly. She quickly turned back to Alloa, who, already being more than halfway towards the exit, who shot her that playful look again before rushing out completely. Minako took a moment to compose herself, thinking of everything she wanted to say before picking up her dufflebag and turning towards the approaching "total hottie."

"I didn't think you were going to come at all today," she smiled at the girl as she came closer, a determined look in those purple eyes.

"I wasn't going to, but-"

"-but you just couldn't resist seeing me?" The determined look faltered as her eyes widened. Minako giggled, acutely aware that she automatically teased Rei whenever.

"Minako, now's not the time-"

"Well, it's just I-"

"Minako, seriously this is not-"

"I know, but really I want you to-"

"Well if you know, we should get-"

"Would you just listen!? I'm trying to say I'm sorry!" Rei pursed her lips to keep from saying more. Minako knew she won this fight, but wondered why Rei gave up so easily. Regardless, she knew to keep going on before she changed her mind.

"I… I'm just... I know I shouldn't keep teasing you like this, but no one's around this time but us. It should be okay, shouldn't it?" The blue eyes had a hopeful look behind them. Rei sighed deeply, pursing her lips tighter. Minako wondered if her friend and newfound crush was just done being her friend, but those worries went away when Rei's lips parted slightly as if she was to say something. Those feelings only came back when Rei closed her mouth immediately after. When Rei didn't say anything, Minako panicked. "I mean, ugh I'm an idiot. Of course I should just stop that's what got you to be like-"

She saw the purple eyes avert her gaze for a moment before looking back, a troubled look appearing for a second before it disappeared. Rei sighed inwardly, deciding to do this for the sake of her team. "This isn't- I mean I don't care that you do it's just…"

"So then why are you mad at me?" Rei swallowed, eyeing the girl in front of her apprehensively.

"I just… I'm not used to feeling this." Minako's heartbeat began to quicken. Could it be…?

"What feeling?" Minako took a step closer to Rei, trying her best not to look hopeful. Rei faced away from Minako, a red blush creeping on her face.

"I find I don't like feeling embarrassed." The obvious embarrassment she was feeling in the moment not helping her any.

"Oh," Minako couldn't help the disappointed tone that came out. What was she expecting though? That since she figured out her feelings that Rei was going to magically reciprocate them? Rei didn't know how to respond to this reaction, so she kept on talking, unsure of what was compelling her to do so. "I mean, it was fine when it was just you, I could handle that. But then Amelie pushed it over the edge and got the whole archery team involved and I couldn't handle it, since that's basically all that you do too-"

"Oh!" Minako repeated, the tone completely different once she realized what exactly it was that Rei had admitted to. It may not have been what she was hoping for, but it was leverage nonetheless. A wicked grin appeared on the blonde's face, Rei not liking this sudden turn.

"Um… Minako?"

"You're adorable, Rei."

"Huh?"

"It's cute when you're flustered."

"Guh-waha?" Rei sputtered out. If there was another thing she didn't like or understand, it was the unpredictability of the blonde standing before her. "I'm telling you what's wrong and you're just making it worse!"

"I… I just like seeing you like this… so I suppose we have a conflict of interests there," she winked at the poor girl. Minako wondered how smart it was to keep flirting with Rei and pushing her and herself like this. At this point she was exasperating the problem, but like a child handling a new crush she didn't know how to cope with it. She wouldn't blame Rei if they were worse off than before. Well, as long as she kept it subtle it wouldn't harm anyone right? Minako sighed inwardly, facing the fact that she was just going to have to accept that she was apparently a glutton for punishment and pain. And flustered Rei really was cute.

"I… I- why do I even bother talking to you?" Rei didn't know how to respond anymore. How they had managed to get so off track from her original intention was beyond her. There was just something about Minako.

"Look, I'm sorry that I made you feel this way, and I promise to try and not to embarrass you too much in public, okay? I just want to go back to being friends."

"...Too much?" Minako playfully shrugged, giggling afterwards and winking at Rei. Rei was about to retort but held back, instead choosing to roll her eyes. She would keep the fighting to a minimum, at least for today. Rei couldn't help but wonder if friends normally teased and winked this much. Rei couldn't figure it out, she was about to let this girl off the hook when normally she would have blocked off anyone that even tried half the stuff she did. She was barely tolerating Amelie, who she knew for years, before she snapped at her. Yet this girl… "Fine. Just please try not to cause scenes anymore. I don't like the attention."

Minako pumped her fist in the air, opening her mouth to say something but was interrupted by screams of terror from outside the gym. Minako glanced towards Rei, the tone in her face serious, but Rei rolled her eyes.

"You see, this is what I originally intended to tell you before you interrupted me. I felt a threat coming."

"Why didn't you say anything sooner." Rei glared, reaching for the red symbol of Mars pin pierced through the cartilage of her right ear. Red light danced around her before fading, the sound of her kimono blazing and crackling filling the gym.

"You were extra stubborn, so I could hardly get a word in unless I told you to straight out shut the hell up. And I knew you were trying to apologize so that wouldn't have been very helpful in trying to forgive you." The other girl huffed as she pressed the pin at her navel and transformed as well. There was so much more that she needed to figure out about the two of them, but The Heartbreaker was glad for the distraction of an enemy. She was much too tired to think of anything else that involved Fire Maiden. They exited through the back entrance of the gym, the sound of monstrous shrieks and people stampeding away could be heard. They jumped onto the rooftop of the gym, looking to see what was going on.

Peering over the edge, they saw that most of the civilians had managed to run away to a safe distance. Of course, as The Heartbreaker saw, there were still a few stragglers, trying to watch and record what they could of the ongoing battle. Fire Maiden watched as their colleagues pummeled these monsters to smithereens. There were close to thirty of what she could only describe as demon boars attempting to get through her friends. Moonbeam was perched on a sturdy branch in a tree, aiming her right hand gun at the boars, a beam shooting out.

Gray Matter, at the base of the tree, was concentrating hard, her gaze focusing on one of the tusked creatures that tried to make a break towards the civilians that were watching. They watched as a blue aura surrounded the maroon furred boar, slowly floating into the air before harshly ramming into another one, both disappearing into smoke on impact.

Crash Girl was several feet in front Gray Matter, smashing any beast that got in her way. She grabbed the face of an oncoming boar, squeezing its face as it collided with her hand head on. She smirked at the satisfaction of hearing the puff as it disappeared, turning into smoke.

Fire Maiden began to step forward, unsheathing her blade as she saw one approaching Crash Girl's blind spot until The Heartbreaker laid a hand on her shoulder to stop her. Fire Maiden turned her head and looked at her incredulously before The Heartbreaker pointed back to their friends. A white beam of light coming from the tips of Moonbeam's fingers whizzed through the air, annihilating the unsuspecting boar.

"They don't need us here. We should patrol the rest of the school for casualties and to see if there are any wandering pigs." Fire Maiden looked back towards their friends. There were only about twenty three of those things left. She saw Crash Girl lift one above her head before hurling it at two more - now there were only twenty. Fire Maiden nodded and they quickly jumped off the rooftop and began to patrol the rest of the school.

The onlookers watched, some recording on their phones as the number of creatures dwindled. One person got off their phone, a news crew now notified of the appearance of these creatures and the heroes at this high school. One of the onlookers, further away from this crowd, took note of this.

"Hey Avalon, you think we should we stick around for the news crews to get here? They might interview me." Her eye twitched as she heard another squeal and puff as Crash Girl squeezed the crap out of that creature. She looked towards Trent, about to say something when Marcel spoke up.

"No, that means I might have a chance to be on camera too. I don't want that, we should jsut go" Her green eyed friend said.

"You're such a dork."

"Says you. It beats doing nothing. Besides, it's not like we'll have any life force to bring back to Dux. They're absolutely destroying Exaltatio's little creations."

"Well I still don't want to-" Avalon zoned out of their little spat. She thought for a moment, watching as another beam of moonlight pierced through the creature. At this rate, the news crews weren't going to catch anything. They were burning through them quickly and they were a lot stronger than she expected, which wasn't good news for them. And they got here really quickly...

"Hey, you two, cut it out really quick. Did you guys notice how quickly they responded to all of this?"

"Uh yeah, I guess they got here fast, why?" Trent shrugged, looking away from Marcel and back towards them.

"Don't you think it's a little strange. They would have had to have been really close by to get here that fast."

"The only way they could have responded this quickly was if they go to this school, heh." Marcel quipped, looking at them as well. Three pairs of eyes widened simultaneously at this realization. They may not have any life force to bring back, but boy did they have something else to bring.

* * *

So here ends chapter two! Thanks for reading, everyone! Any comments, constructive criticisms or questions are lovely. I honestly had this chapter finished a week or two ago but I wasn't exactly too happy with the pacing of Minako and Rei stuff. After like five rewrites this was the best I got.

Also Loveinthebattlefield, I have definitely been checking out the new anime and I would definitely recommend everyone else did the same. But I would also like to say for everyone to check it out from an official source like Hulu, NicoNico or Crunchyroll. I think NicoNico's stream can be viewed internationally. Watching it from these places will show that creators and other people in charge of it that there's an interest in the series and would support the series, so please watch it from there. Okay, my public service announcement is over. Thank you all!


	3. Alcohol, Parties, a Red Ribbon and Lust

Hey everyone! Sorry this was put up so late, it was done about a week or two ago but since it's so long the proofreading process took more time. And now that classes are here I may be updating even more infrequently, but probably still around monthly, at most bimonthly. But, enjoy this chapter! It's about that party life and stuff.

* * *

"...Live from the scene of the latest attack, we have Kim Greens. Kim?" The screen shows a split screen of a newsroom containing the well groomed anchorman and another of a young, good-looking field reporter.

"Thanks John," her screen becomes full sized, the background of the high school and the remaining battle taking place. "As you can see, Moonbeam, Gray Matter and Crash Girl are just about finished taking care of these monsters, and -woah!"

A bright flash of light appears in the background as Moonbeam shoots down another boar.

"... and just like that, these girls are taking them down. Eyewitnesses had called us earlier stating that there were around thirty of these monsters in this area alone, but by the time we got here there were only around seven. However, I don't see Fire Maiden or The Heartbreaker around. Where are the other two members of the supposed five-woman team?"

And, as if on cue, as the last of the demonic boars poofed into thin air, a flash of red and orange appeared on the screen along with the sound of crackling fire. The reporter's eyebrows raised and a grin appeared on her face. She turned to try getting the most elusive member of the team's attention. She motioned for the cameraman to follow her.

"Excuse me! Fire Maiden! Excuse me, where were you -"

"We - " A familiar voice answered in the stead of Fire Maiden. " - were patrolling the rest of the school's campus while our other teammates took care of the main threat, Kim." The camera followed as the mysterious heroine conferred with the other three, who looked a bit worn, but were completely unharmed. Gray Matter nodded and they all dispersed instantly, leaving the reporter with the owner of that familiar voice, the camera panning back to the two of them.

"Ah, if it isn't The Heartbreaker herself! Did you find anything that we should be concerned about?" The camera panned to the blonde standing strongly beside the reporter. The heroine seemed to smile under that red bandana.

"Not today, Kim. The rest of the grounds were clear and no one was injured."

"Good, good, that's always great to hear, but if that were the case why didn't you assist your colleagues with the this fight? It would have been less taxing on them." Unphased by the question, The Heartbreaker answered without missing a beat.

"We needed to make sure the rest of the area was safe before being able to come back to help them. It would be better for it to take a little longer but have everyone safe. Plus, I have complete trust in their capabilities."

"Ah, yes. But where are these beasts coming from? Will our streets ever be safe from these monsters again? I mean they're attacking our schools now-"

"I assure you we are searching for the source of these monsters, but in the meantime we are going to provide the most thorough protection we can. Have we failed yet?" There was a twinkle in The Heartbreaker's eyes that made the reporter smile in recognition of the fact that these girls had not failed once.

"Well we -"

The television buzzed off. Dux slammed the remote onto the table in front of her. All eight of them were gathered in their entertainment room, all circled around the table in front of them. Dux glanced over to Exaltatio and then to corner where Tentigo, Avaritia and Magnitas were seated before looking back at Exaltatio.

"What the hell. We send over a horde of _your_ precious creations and not a single one of them survives to bring back any energy. Aren't you all tired of taking the life force from these non sentient animals in the area? I sure as hell am. It isn't enough."

"My apologies, Dux, I-"

"But Dux, we have some good news despite Exaltatio's failures," Tentigo butted in, causing Exaltatio to glare at him. Dux stared at him with her black eyes, waiting for him to go on. "We were able to deduce that these girls are at the high school that we go to."

"Is that so?" Dux began to relax a little, and soon everyone else followed suit. "Then I trust you know what you three need to do?"

"Get rid of their asses?" Magnitas asked. Dux nodded.

"Uhh…" Another figure in the room began to speak. Everyone's attention turned sharply to this figure. "Why… I mean wouldn't it be easier to just move cities? If we're after life force, then isn't that… doesn't that make it easier?"

"Desidia… you don't think we've already thought about this?" Exaltatio began to raise his voice, but Dux put her hand on his forearm to quiet him.

"You do bring up a good point, my dear, but the truth of the matter is that they would just follow us. We figure the best course of action would be to get rid of these girls by luring them out with the creatures and then striking them when we ourselves find them. It would just be _nice_ if we got some damn life force at some point from these humans."

"I wouldn't worry about that," Avaritia spoke, side eyeing Tentigo. Tentigo glared at her but she ignored him.

"Go on…" Dux implored.

"Tentigo over here has decided to claim a beautiful human girl. She seems like a good candidate for a direct transfer of energy…"

Tentigo looked angrily at Avaritia but softened his gaze when he realized the truth of the matter. Dux needed the energy more, since everyone else had other means of obtaining energry while she didn't. They could survive longer without the life force unlike Dux, who needed it to function, and Tentigo could overlook his pride for her sake. Dux looked towards him, smiling.

"Is that so?"

"It is. And once I'm finished with her I would gladly offer her to you, Dux," Tentigo bowed his head. He could still have his fun with Rei, that was the main purpose of this anyway. The extra energy would have just been a plus.

"Then you three know what to do. Find these girls so we can finally get them. Then this world will be ours for the taking. And Tentigo," she looked to him, pausing as she grabbed her laptop next to her and began typing her password, "please be quick about your target. I grow hungry for sustenance. You're all dismissed"

"Yes, Dux." Everyone got up to leave to their room. She looked at all of them once more before turning her attention to her laptop, clicking on the next series for her to binge watch. These humans did have very good forms of entertainment, she would have to admit.

…

The Lunar Force was having their last meeting of the week. They never met up on weekends, but knew their patrol schedules like the back of their hand before they got out of the Friday meetings. They were sitting in Makoto's living room, all seated around the coffee table, facing her television. Usagi, Ami, and Minako were plopped comfortably on the couch while Makoto and Rei sat on the floor, across each other from the table. The sound of a remote dropping on the table filled the room as well as a small buzz.

"I totally killed that interview yesterday, didn't I?" Minako asked as she shut off the recording of yesterday's news segment involving the demon boars. This caused everyone else in the room, including the cats, to roll their eyes. Minako narrowed her eyes at all of them.

"Just like always, right guys?" Usagi tried to appease the blonde's ego. This only caused Ami and Makoto to make noncommittal noises that supposedly indicated their agreement and for Rei to scoff. Minako's head whipped towards the owner of the newly released scoff.

"You could be more grateful, Hino. Kim was basically hurtling towards you and there would have been no graceful way for you to get out of that one." Rei slowly turned to face Minako, her face almost devoid of emotion save for the small hint of cheekiness.

"Thank you, oh humble one," Rei deadpanned. Minako's eye twitched before opening her mouth to retort. Rei prepared herself, getting on her knees and began to point her finger at Minako. Ami observed the two of them as they began to bicker. She chuckled as the color of Rei's face began to turn red and Minako cackled. The blue haired girl felt relieved that her decision to ask Rei to stay behind seemed to work; everything seemed normal again. She knew that the three of them could handle most any threat of those monsters on their own anyway, and she figured it was what was best for the team. Ami felt Usagi's gaze on her and looked toward her friend and Makoto, who had sat on the edge of the couch next to Usagi. They both had knowing looks on their faces and Ami nodded, before looking back at them. A chase was about to begin, Rei in position to pounce the blonde and the blonde preparing to make a run for it, but Ami, seeing the look in the two cats' faces, intervened.

"We should probably get to patrolling since the meeting is over, right Usagi?" Ami interjected before anymore fighting could occur, and the blonde pouted, enjoying the scene before her, but she knew that Ami was right. She had checked her watch and saw that they were on track to becoming behind schedule. Ami looked over to Makoto, who nudged her back. She nodded, the look on her face afterward telling Ami to trust her. And so Ami did. Ami and Usagi began to pack up their things, Usagi grabbing a cookie from the plate next to a flower arrangement Makoto had made. But before they could do that, Minako abruptly stood up.

"Well before everyone goes I have one more announcement!" Minako announced, looking to Artemis, who reluctantly nodded his head. He did not approve of her methods of bonding per se, but she was rather convincing and had to agree with her on this front: it would be good for the girls to unwind and get to know each other, and saw that it had been effective for Minako. She continued, "I wanted to know if any of you would like to come to a party tomorrow nigh-"

"Yes!" Usagi immediately butted in. Minako looked at her amusedly.

"Usagi, let her finish," Luna chided. She scratched the back of her head and smiled sheepishly, indicating for Minako to continue.

"Uh, yeah, there's a party tomorrow night to celebrate the volleyball team's big win and what we're assuming is going to be the football team's big win tonight. It would be cool if you all could come but I totes understand if you can't or don't want to. I have someone who's going to be a designated driver and also my parents are away this weekend so we could all sleepover at my place if you need to." The room was quiet as she looked at everyone else. She was hopeful that at least someone else would say yes. She really did like Usagi and wouldn't mind it being just the two of them, but, as they say, the more the happier.

"I still wanna go! Ohhh I'm so excited!" Usagi screeched, excited for a party. She beamed at Minako, who smiled back. She hadn't been to one in ages; not since Mamoru went north and left for Stanford. It was prom night to be exact. People just seemed to have the idea that she couldn't go to a party without her boyfriend, but what they didn't realize is that they both trusted each other enough to do so. Although, admittedly, it would be her first time at one without him.

"Only if you finish your homework before you go," Luna added. Usagi was about to say something but the look in Luna's eyes caused her to avert her gaze up to Ami. When she saw the look on Ami's face almost mirror Luna's expression, Usagi slumped her shoulders in defeat, mumbling about how she would do it.

"Excellent, any other takers?" Minako asked, looking hopefully towards her other friends.

"It's not the way I like to spend my Saturday nights, Minako. But thank you for the invite." Ami replied. Minako nodded, understanding and knowing that she should have expected that. She set her gazes on the tall brunette next to her, who shrugged.

"Sorry Minako, same with me. Not too fond of alcohol, but if you need someone to pick you up feel free to call me." Minako nodded, less hopeful. She turned her head towards Rei, who was quietly and quickly packing her things.

"So… how about you Rei? You already knew about this one." Rei scoffed, shaking her head.

"Minako, what do you think?" Minako shrugged, eyes still hopeful.

"I guess I was just being optimistic. Please?"

"Even if I wanted to, I don't think I could. The Japanese classes I teach at every Saturday gets out in the evening and after that I have to help my grandfather close up the school. But besides that, I can't stand those parties, there are too many of those pigs there." Minako sighed.

"Okay, alright…" Rei eyed the girl suspiciously, wondering why the girl was being suddenly polite about this to her. There was an awkward pause in the conversation, none of the three girls moving. There was a small tension in the room that Makoto could sense and it took all she had not to smile. She nudged Usagi, who understood and nudged Ami. Ami's attention went to the two girls on her right. Makoto tilted her head towards Minako, and Ami understood what to do.

"Usagi, we should really get going, our patrol time is going to be starting soon." Ami said, checking her wristwatch. Usagi nodded. The cats began to follow along, as they usually oversaw the patrols. Artemis looked back to Minako as if to say goodbye, and she acknowledged his gaze.

"Text me details, Minako! We'll see you all later!" They walked out the door, leaving the three of them in the apartment. Makoto stepped back a little to observe.

"I guess I should be heading out too. Grandfather wants to go over some lesson plans before tomorrow," Rei stated, waving goodbye to Makoto and then to Minako. Their eyes held a prolonged gaze, causing a goofy smile to grow on Makoto's face, only getting bigger the more they stared. After a while, Makoto started to become less amused and more uncomfortable.

"See ya Rei!" The two jumped in their place, Minako clearing her throat as Rei's face started to turn red. Rei headed out the door before it could tinge any deeper.

"Yeah, bye Rei," Minako managed to choke out. At the sound of the door closing, she let out a sigh of relief before remembering herself. She turned around to see Makoto smiling amusedly, leaning on the counter that separated her living room from her kitchen.

"You two seem to be friendly again." Minako raised an eyebrow. Makoto noted that, although she seemed to be a lot more composed now that Rei was gone, she was still a bit ruffled.

"What do you mean by that?" A little more defensive than Minako intended to be. However, this only amused Makoto.

"Just an observation, nothing else. You don't have anywhere to be tonight?"

"You sound surprised."

"Well you are 'The Great Minako Aino,' the third most popular girl at the damned school." Minako chuckled. She started to head towards the table in the kitchen and took a seat.

"Wait, what do you mean _third_?" Makoto held her laughter in, unsure if her leader was being serious or not. "I kid, Makoto. But I'm actually going to head to the football game in an hour. It's a home game and I just figured since you live close to the school… oh geez I hope I'm not imposing."

Makoto shook her head, now hovering over the seat next to Minako. "Not at all. Want anything to drink while you're still here?"

"Water's good, thanks. Did you maybe want to come with me later? It'll be done way before your night patrol." Makoto grabbed the glasses from her cabinet and headed to her refrigerator.

"Hmm, maybe not. I want to get some rest in before I head out tonight. Besides, most of the wrestling team's going to be there." Minako arched an eyebrow.

"You're not very close to your team, are you?"

"Nope. But it's all good, you all are cooler anyway." Makoto gave Minako a toothy grin before she placed the glass of water in front of Minako and took the seat in front of her. The two sat in a comfortable silence, Makoto scrolling through her phone while Minako took a swig, quietly observing her friend. "Something on your mind, Minako?"

"Nope, it's nothing." Makoto tilted her head.

"Mhmm I don't believe you. What's the matter?" Minako bit her lip back in contemplation before sighing in defeat. Her curiosity was getting the best of her.

"What did you mean by us seeming friendly again?" Makoto shrugged innocently.

"The rest of us were just glad to see you two aren't fighting anymore."

"What do you mean by fighting?" Makoto chuckled heartily.

"Oh please Minako, I know a lover's quarrel when I see one. You must have done something grand to make her forgive you again." Makoto winked at the end of her sentence, causing Minako to furrow her brows.

"What are you implying?

"Tell me, is she a screamer? I bet she's a screamer." Minako's jaw dropped.

"Oh my god do you think…? Dude, what no, we haven't... if you - I can't tell if you're messing with me or not, Makoto."

"Wait… do you mean you two aren't together? Oh... We totally jumped the gun there."

"Do you mean that you guys actually thought we were…? Oh god no we aren't! Why would you -"

"Well you two just basically flirt non stop and with the way you two make those bedroom eyes at each other, we figured it was a couple thing!"

"Bedroom eyes…? No! No no no! We aren't! As much as I wish we - "

"..."

"..."

"BINGO we have a winner! Haha I knew it, I _knew it_!" Makoto cackled, the look of horror on Minako's face only adding to it. She slammed her fist repeatedly on the

"Wait… what?"

"I was totally lying, we didn't think that at all. I was just trying to get you to admit it out loud."

"... I'm going to kill you." Makoto, still chuckling, shook her head.

"Nah, you see, this is why we picked you and not Rei. Because I'm pretty sure Rei would probably actually kill me if I tried something like this on her."

"... Seriously if you tell anyone else I'll kill you."

"I swear to all good things that I won't tell anyone, it'll be our little secret. But you seem a little shook up, are you alright?"

"I'm just worried this will turn out badly. Like, my god I haven't had a crush on anyone since my freshman year."

"What, so is this like a crush or more? I know crushes - they're silly and flighty. What this sounds like is more like…"

"Falling for her?"

"Bingo…" Minako let out a sigh and Makoto gave her a small smile of reassurance and pushed cookies towards her. Minako smiled back and reached for a cookie. "I can see why you're concerned though. She doesn't seem like the romantic type."

"So you think it won't happen?" Minako paused for a moment to ponder.

"I never said that, it's just that… It's Rei Hino. She's a hottie and I may like her, and hell, usually I get what I want. But… It's Rei Hino."

"Thanks for the poetic clarification." Both of them chuckled, Minako smiling in thanks at the Amazonian keeping her company. "But really… thanks. It's actually kind of nice to air this out, all trickery aside."

"You're welcome." Minako took a swig from her water before setting it down.

"God I still can't believe you got me."

"You're not the only one that knows how to play mind games Minako." This made Minako think for a moment, before her lips involuntarily tugged up.

"... Did you plan this with Ami?" Makoto grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of her head. Minako raised an eyebrow. Makoto's language had made it seem like there was more than one person involved in the planning, and Makoto, from what she had observed in the few weeks they've been getting to know each other, usually wasn't the scheming type.

"Aha… Ah. You figured that one out, did you?" Makoto's mind wandered back to her conversation with Ami, which mostly had to do with just trying to get the two of them to focus on their work. Makoto was sure it went beyond that, however. "I'm not nearly crafty enough to think up a scheme like that. But I swear I won't tell them anything."

"You better not… but honestly I'm a little more surprised that Ami would be interested in something like this."

"To be honest, I was too, she didn't seem like the type. But I guess she found it just as amusing as I did." Minako thought about it for a moment, but shrugged it off.

"Must mean she's just a normal teenager like the rest of us."

"Guess so. But honestly Minako, good luck with this."

"Thanks?" Makoto grinned, getting up and giving her a tight hug from behind. Minako was surprised by the action, but found herself immediately comforted by the strong embrace.

"I'm just saying, even if she does like you, which I wouldn't completely rule out, she's still a huge mystery. But if there's anyone who could figure her out, it's probably you."

"Thanks, Mako."

…

Usagi rang the doorbell to the Aino household. It was the night of the party and Usagi had arrived an hour before their projected pick up. Alloa was going to pick them up around nine, so Usagi had her parents drop her off at eight. She told them that she was going to a sleepover at a friend's house, which was partially true. Minako had offered to let her sleep over since her parents were gone on some business trip or something.

The door swung open and Usagi's eyes widened at the scandalous blonde in front of her. She was wearing high waisted red shorts and a white fitted cropped tank top. Her make up was a little smokier than usual, and she smiled at Usagi's reaction.

"Wow, look at you, you hottie!" Usagi squealed, Minako's grin only growing wider.

"Oh please, don't encourage her Usagi." Artemis said as he walked out the door. Usagi looked at Minako questioningly and she just shrugged.

"He's got a hot date." Artemis froze in his spot momentarily, before walking away indignantly and sputtering to himself.

"We're just going over data about the enemy…" The two blondes laughed at his expense and Minako motioned for Usagi to come in. She look around the house, which seemed very similar to hers, but something was off…

"Let's head up to my room!" Minako pulled her attention and Usagi followed. "Ah, just wondering but do you plan on wearing that to the party?"

Usagi chuckled. She was wearing a pastel pink sundress that, while cute, was not very suited for parties. She wore it more to appease her parents and not to raise suspicion. She shifted her overnight bag noisily as she said "Of course not! My actual clothes are in here!"

As she climbed up the stairs, she noticed that that something off was a lack of family pictures or pictures of Minako throughout the house. She frowned a little, wondering why. In fact, the house was pretty sparse save for a few smartly placed, generic decorations and some Minako's clothes scattered randomly. As they entered Minako's room and Usagi paused to look around. It was completely different from the rest of her house; it had character. Minako went over to her vanity and began checking herself. There were posters of celebrities littered across one wall, one layering over another over another. She recognized most of them but there were some that even eluded her.

"Wow… that's a lot of posters."

"Mhm! They're all my inspiration."

"Inspiration?" Usagi looked over again. Most of them were famous singers and actors. "But these are all entertainers."

"I like singing and acting too."

"I didn't know that!" Usagi was excited now. Maybe she could finally have someone to go to karaoke with.

"I'm a woman of many talents," Minako winked at Usagi. Before Usagi could respond, Minako continued. "Now come on, get changed. I want to see what Ms. Tsukino's party outfit is!"

Usagi complied and got changed, shedding the sundress in favor of a royal blue skater skirt and a hot pink bandeau with a white cropped denim vest over it. Minako whistled and nodded approvingly, this being a lot more appropriate for a party. Usagi blushed.

"I guess this works better for a party?" Minako nodded as Usagi giggled. She noticed the silver necklace with a rose pendant.

"I'm digging the necklace. Is it from the boyfriend?" Usagi nodded vigorously, a small smile on her face. He had given it to her on their first anniversary and she wore it almost everyday since.

"Yes it is! It's to remind all the predators out there that I'm a taken woman and not to mess with me."

"I pity the man that tries to mess with any of us." They both chuckled and went back to getting ready.

They continued to talk about the party and all the possibilities that could pop up while they got ready, Usagi mentioning how it was too bad that the others couldn't come and Minako relenting. The other blonde had a look on her face that Usagi couldn't quite pinpoint but decided it best not to ask. There were a few more minutes before their ride got there and they were putting on their final touches. Usagi put on a final layer of lip gloss and looked over to Minako who was tightening the red bow in her hair. Usagi noticed she never went a day without the red bow and became curious.

"Hey Minako, why do you always wear that red bow?" Minako's hands froze at the bow, slowly letting it down after awhile. Minako had a thoughtful look on her face.

"Ah right, when me and my ex-boyfriend first started dating he said in passing he liked girls with bows in their hair. I thought, 'hey, his favorite color is red' and I just figured I'd give it a try." Usagi frowned, regretting asking the question. She remembered hearing her freshman year about this other freshman, Minako, who was dating a senior, and that they had a horrible, horrible break up. People still gossip about it today, saying it's the reason that she is the way she is now, which Usagi now knew she totally hated. She wondered why she bothered to keep it on if it had to do with that scumbag. "He said he liked it so I kept it. After we broke up, I was a little iffy on keeping it, but in the end I was just like, 'fuck you Scott, it looks really fucking great on me,' so I decided to keep it."

Usagi beamed at her friend, glad she opened up and amused at her reasoning. This was Minako Aino we were talking about, after all; Usagi felt silly for worrying. There was a buzz coming from Minako's vanity, her cell phone indicating that Alloa was calling. They quickly grabbed their things and headed for the door.

Party time was a go.

...

The bass of the song playing was a lot louder on the inside of the Chesterfield household than Minako had expected. On the outside the music and talking sounded muffled, but upon entering Minako realized Brett had figured out a way to soundproof the house. Minako was pulling Usagi and Alloa to the kitchen, where she assumed the shot glasses were. They would do their obligatory "_Heyyy!"_s when they had to, but right now Minako was on a mission - to get Usagi drunk.

They finally found their way to the counter and Minako urged Usagi to hurry - the quicker they got drunk, the quicker they could get to the dancing.

"You're sure Mamoru would be okay with this?" Minako yelled into Usagi's ear.

"What!?" Usagi yelled back. The one thing she didn't miss about parties is the partially deaf feeling she got the next morning.

"I said, are you sure Mamoru would be okay with this!?" Minako repeated even louder. She would definitely have to make Brett turn the volume down; she could barely hear herself think. Usagi nodded enthusiastically. He was doing this kind of stuff at college, so it should be okay for her too. Minako smiled.

"Okay! Shots all around! Except for you Alloa, your designated driver ass is _not_ getting a sip of alcohol in tonight." Alloa huffed, but nodded defeatedly. Minako pulled a bottle of rum from her bag, smiling at Usagi. Alloa cocked an eybrow.

"Get that from your parent's stash? Isn't that risky?" Minako shrugged, smiling sheepishly.

"They just stocked up so I doubt they'll notice. Besides, I'm just helping them reduce their bad habit!" She took two shot glasses and poured rum into them generously. Both she and Usagi grabbed a glass and raised them to the sky.

"To the Guardians for winning big this week!" Minako bellowed, others in the vicinity cheered and raised the plastic red cups in their hands as well. Usagi giggled before sucking her breath in. Their eyes connected, both nodding and then she downed the burning liquid. Minako smirked at the twitching Usagi, and before Usagi could protest she poured some more in her shot glass. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Alloa getting whisked away by a taller boy, both of them making eye contact before she left for the dance floor.

"To friendship!" Usagi called out this time, and Minako laughed. This went on a couple more times, both of them toasting to different things, until finally Minako decided it was a good stopping point. She could feel the buzz coming and definitely saw Usagi's face already turning red.

"I think we're good Usagi, you want some water or soda?" She placed the rum on the counter for anyone to use, she figured she wouldn't need to bring it home.

"No, I'm good… I just want…"

"What do you want?"

"Ugh I just really want Mamoru right now, shit." Minako lacked the inhibition to control her facial expression, and she busted up laughing. She did not think drunk Usagi would be a horny drunk.

"Hey, we could dance together right now and you just save those feelings for when he comes back to visit, okay?"

"Okay!" Minako pulled her out of the kitchen and onto the dance floor. The hypnotic, hard hitting beats were blasting near them and Minako really did have a mind to sue Brett for ear damage after this. Minako moved to the intense bass, her hips swaying and dropping to the beat. Drunk Usagi in front of her was in her own world, dancing slightly off beat but smiling despite it. Usagi glanced over to Minako with a devilish glint in her eye. Minako tilted her head and before she knew it, Usagi was grinding on her, giggling like mad. Minako tensed up before she realized what Usagi was doing and giggled too. That was when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Mind if I intrude?" The boy's voice yelled into her ear. Minako turned around to see Brett.

"Only if you turn down the music. At this rate either my voice or my hearing's going to be gone before the night ends. Or both." Brett obliged, going over to the music system. She turned back towards Usagi, whose brow was arching. Alloa had popped up next to the both of them.

"Hey Usagi, want to be my partner for beer pong?" The blonde nodded, jumping up and down in excitement. She and Mamoru used to partner up and it had be a long time since she had played. She was terrible at the game, but she wasn't about to tell Alloa that. Minako frowned at the idea.

"Hey Alloa, you better not be drinking - "

"I know, I know." She gave her trademark smile that indicated she was lying out of her ass, and Minako needed to remember to take her car keys from her later. The blue green eyes of the girl met her concerned friend's cerulean eyes with an apologetic look. Before Minako could question it, her friend mouthed "I'm so sorry, good luck" and pulled Usagi away. At that moment, she felt hands grab her waist and pull her into a dance. Normally, she would have punched any asshole that didn't bother to ask, but the hip movement of the culprit was familiar. She turned her head back to face the dark haired boy.

"You know it's rude not to ask first."

"I thought I did?"

"Not explicitly." Brett shook his head, pulling her in closer.

"You and your technicalities. I turned down the music, didn't I?" Minako noticed they didn't have to yell quite as loud at each other anymore to hear what the other was saying.

"I guess so." They danced for a few more minutes, Minako noting that her partner's movements became more intense as time went on. She could feel his breath on her neck, his hands gradually traveling lower and lower. She pulled herself out of her trance of dancing, and turned to face him.

"No." She glared at the football player, his expression disappointed.

"But we were dancing. Isn't this usually how it goes?"

"It was just dancing." He straightened his stance, staring straight at her.

"Minako we need to talk."

"Crap." Minako said under her breath. That phrase has never led to any fun conversations in her experience. She shrugged at him and he pulled her away, outside to his backyard. There were a few couples outside, the rate of their starved teenage nature varying between each. He pulled them to a vacant swinging bench, sitting down and patting the seat next to him. As she took the seat, he began to talk.

"What is going on with you?"

"Nothing."

"Then why won't you… you know." She narrowed her eyes, not liking at all where this was going.

"Why won't I what?"

"You know what."

"You're a big boy, you can say it."

"Fuck Minako, why won't you put out?" She rolled her eyes. She knew her answer, but obviously telling Brett Chesterfield her newfound fondness for Rei Hino was not any priority of hers.

"I just don't want to."

"Why!?"

"Why do I need to tell you? Honestly Brett, if you just wanted to get some there are literally hundreds of other, sober girls who would be willing to." His eyes changed from anger to sadness in a split second, and before Minako's intoxicated mind could process the change, the words spilled out of his mouth.

"Minako… I miss you." Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

"Oh no… oh no no no. Brett you know the rules, I only hook up with people if its mutually casual, I don't do the emotional attachment stuff, that is not how the game works.

"Well obviously you aren't playing the game anymore!" Minako needed to remember not to have drunk arguments with anyone ever.

"Brett, you're my friend, but if you like me I just need you to know straight out that I do not feel the same way."

"I just need to know why you can't sleep with me, even if it's just for tonight. I don't understand-"

"You like me, don't you?"

"Yeah, but -"

"Well then, there's your answer." Minako got up and walked back into the house. That was always a rule for her, she didn't want to emotionally compromise people. When romantic attachment is involved, sex becomes an easy way to hurt someone if the feelings aren't the same. She should know, she's been on that end before.

She walked through the back door and went to the counter of alcohol, surprised to see that her bottle of rum still had some content left. She unscrewed the cap and took a giant swig, finishing the bottle. It wasn't usually her style to drink to her known limit, but since Brett soured her mood it seemed like the best course of action.

"You know, drinking is more fun with company." The new voice offered her a shot glass and she turned to see Trent.

"I guess so." She smirked, handing her glass to him. He pulled out a bottle of Everclear, pouring the contents of the bottle. She cringed at the sight of the bottle, only ever having it once since everyone she knew preferred something less… burning. He chuckled at her expression and handed her her glass.

"To getting lucky tonight," he toasted and winked, knocking back the drink and placing his glass on the counter.

"In your dreams," Minako joked, knocking hers back. She gagged as she swore it burned some of the lining of her esophagus. Whoever thought it was a good idea to make rubbing alcohol drinkable was horribly, horribly wrong.

"Speaking of, is my dream girl here?" Minako cringed outwardly despite herself, hoping that Trent didn't notice or that he thought it was because of his choice of alcohol. She looked towards him, seeing that he was clearly amused.

"You mean Hino?"

"Yeah."

"Nah, she isn't coming tonight."

"Oh. I thought she was..." Minako saw his face tighten, but before she could process its meaning she saw two girls stumbling around, causing a huge commotion. She left Trent to see what was going on and stood there, mouth agape at the tragedy walking towards her.

"Oh gods help me." She approached them, the sight in front of her becoming more and more amusing to her the closer she got. She could feel the world around her spinning a bit, and she cursed the person who invented Everclear. Usagi looked absolutely pale and Alloa was stumbling around trying to help her stay upright, she obviously being in no state to help out. When Alloa saw her approaching, her face became cartoonishly sad.

"We trolled, Minako. We trolled! They made us take two shots in a row!" Minako busted out, laughing at the two of them. She knew Alloa was horrible at beer pong, but Usagi too? Her laughing stopped when she heard Usagi dry heaving. She shook her head, helping Alloa take Usagi to the nearest bathroom. She noticed her other friend stumbling along as well and sighed. It seemed she really would have to find a new ride home for all three of them.

"How drunk are you Alloa?"

"Um… pretty drunk."

"Give me your keys."

"... Alright."

...

"... the sheer amount of the attackers are getting more numerous. Are our enemies getting desperate?"

Ami looked over at the two cats discussing these matters of evil on her bed. She chuckled inwardly, thinking that three months ago this would have been like something only possible in a cartoon. She placed a bowl of water on the floor by the bed, in case they got thirsty. They had asked Ami for help strategizing if she was free, and she accepted. She was supposed to shadow her mother today, but the hospital was too busy and she postponed it for another weekend.

"You two should take a break, it's been hours. Breaks have been proven to help in effectiveness." They sighed, both gathering around her when she plopped onto the bed with them.

"You're right Ami, thank you."

"Hey Ami, why didn't you go out with Minako and Usagi and take a break then?" Artemis asked. Ami chuckled and looked over at him curiously, petting the black cat that had wandered onto her lap. She genuinely thought he was joking, but his facial expression stated otherwise.

"Ah was that a serious question? Honestly, that sounds more tiring than fighting off these monsters." Both Artemis and Luna frowned.

"What do you mean? Usagi said she loves to go out, she says it relaxes her. I asked Artemis and Minako said the same thing."

"That's the problem when both of your charges are the outgoing types. Their ideas of relaxing are far different from mine. I prefer reading a novel or watching Jeopardy or documentary series when I relax. Going out and partying would require much more effort than I would like, and honestly just being with you two is relaxing enough." She offered a gentle smile to the curious kitties. They both sat there, absorbing the information and Ami proceeded to pet the cats. Luna nodded as she seemed to gain understanding.

"I… That makes sense. I think I'm beginning to understand Terrans more now." Everyone paused at the mention of that word. Ami looked down at the cat in her lap, her expression more curious than anything.

"Luna… what do you mean by 'Terran'?" The black cat look towards Artemis, both of them having memories sparked by the mention of the word.

"I don't know."

…

Rei grumbled to herself, a pop song she had never heard before playing from the mysterious glow on her desk. She just was starting to get ready for bed since she and her grandfather had gotten back late, an impromptu meeting being held to discuss the sudden influx of student interest after the classes, and had just finished eating a late dinner.

She made her way towards the synthesized music, thinking that it must have been Minako who was calling. She was the only one who bothered messing with her cell phone like this and listened to this peppy music. At least Usagi had the decency of asking before messing with it, and even then she only ever took too many selfies with it. She felt an omen coming from the glowing device, but went against her better judgement and placed her hand on it.

She picked up the phone, quickly examining the screen. Like she thought, a picture of the athletic blonde's face appeared on the screen with her signature V-sign, indicating she was the caller, and she quickly examined the time before picking up. She answered the phone, putting it to her ear. She could hear the muffled music and chatter in the background.

"Minako it is almost twelve, what do you want?"

"Heyy cutie! Why do you sound so grumpy-wumps?" Rei rolled her eyes and felt her ears getting red.

"I'm trying to go to bed, so what is it that you want?"

"Just wanted to check up on you, see how you're doing." Rei began to recognize a small slur in her voice. She also recognized the tone in her voice and instantly regretted ever picking up her phone.

"Cut the crap Minako, what do you want from me."

"I, the lovely Minako, take the time out of my busy social life to check in on a poor recluse such as yourself, and this is the -"

"Well maybe if you're so busy you should get back to what it is you're doing. Good night."

"Wait no Rei no no no Rei noooooo!" Minako sputtered out. It was becoming more and more apparent just how inebriated the peppy blonde had become, not necessarily just in her speech but every damn word that came out of her mouth sounded like she was holding back a giggle.

"What!?" Rei let out in frustration.

"I… do you think you could pick me and Usagi up? And then take us to my house? Usagi is really, really drunk and our designated driver kind of undesignated herself." Rei rolled her eyes, wishing that she didn't feel this was coming.

"Send me the address and I'll be there in twenty."

"Make sure to look cute."

"I'm not coming down from my car."

"Sure you aren't. Bye see you soon! Mwah!" The faux kissing noise indicated the end of the conversation as the line hung up and Rei let out a sigh of frustration. Why she allowed Minako to drag her around, she would never for the life of her know. And all that teasing... was it necessary? She began to pack some overnight clothes and grabbed her wallet and keys. From the sounds of it, Minako wasn't really in any state to take care of herself or Usagi and Rei couldn't have them getting into any more trouble.

…

"Hey Minako, I'm about two minutes away make sure you and Usagi are outside by then."

"Ummmm actually, I might need some help. Usagi's being barfy and it's hard to move her." Rei could hear an "am not" followed by retching and Rei tried very hard not to gag as well.

"Are you serious."

"Mhmm looks like you have to come down." Rei could swear that Minako was doing this on purpose.

"I swear Minako if you make me -"

"Oh you sound so upset. Liven up, it's a party! We're in the kitchen - nonono Usagi do _that_ in the trash-" Rei hung up the phone and sighed. There were times that she was glad her leader had an instinct when it came to scheming and tactics, and it may one day save her life, but tonight was not one of those times.

…

Rei stopped in front of the house, a bad feeling slowly rising within her. She couldn't tell if this bad feeling was a premonition or if it was her general disdain at being at this party. She couldn't help it - it seemed her premonitions came and went as they pleased, their level of clarity just as inconsistent. She put herself on high alert and willed herself to move on.

She walked up the walkway to the front door, everyone she passed stopping their conversations to stare in disbelief or confusion. The mysterious girl's frown deepened, wondering if her attire made her stand out too much. She didn't plan on getting out of the car, so she didn't bother changing from her teacher outfit. The red, tailored dress shirt that didn't seem capable of buttoning around all of her cleavage because apparently clothing stores don't consider variation in body shapes, its sleeves rolled up just above her elbows, the black, trendy slacks, or the red stilettos - she stood out amongst completely the bro tanks and crop tops. Amongst all these people dressed so differently, she felt less like a teenager and more like a…

"Yo, who's the milf?" Rei's eye twitched as she heard the conversation of the two boys she passed by.

"Dude, I'm pretty sure that milf is Hino."

"Woah, Hino's a mom? That explains a lot…" Rei shut out the conversation as she sped forward up the never ending walkway to the front door of this house. The effects cannabis had on the mind seemed to be exemplified in those two tonight.

She made her way to the door at last, reaching for the handle. Suddenly, the bad feeling doubled its hold on Rei, and she froze, her hand staying still over the handle. Her premonitions were making it very clear that there is something bad, something waiting for her and she knew immediately that she needed to get in there. But that same feeling kept her frozen, until...

"... does she not know how a door works? Hey milf, turn the knob."

"I know how a door works!" She both snapped at him and turned the handle and pushing it in. She was greeted with deafening music, the thickness of body heat, and even more dread. But she pressed on to where her friends were, ignoring all the stares.

"Where's the kitchen?" She asked a terrified girl, who pointed in the right direction. Everyone seemed to understand that she wasn't there to party and moved right out of her way when she walked near them. Everyone except for one person, that is.

She was a few steps away from the entrance to the kitchen when a boy with sandy hair crashed into her, spilling his drink on her. "Oh geez, I'm so sorry!"

"You should be!" Rei snarled, the sticky beverage covering most of her left arm and some of her chest. He seemed to be taken aback by her brashness. She tried to shake off the excess liquid.

"I-I am. Hey, let me help you clean that up." He offered an apologetic smile and slowly started to reach for the wet arm, but she jerked away from his touch. He frowned.

"I don't need your help, you did enough, now fuck off!" Rei took a step back, watching his hand with caution. She usually attempted to have more tact with strangers, but his blunder plus the environment, being on high alert and the bad that seemed to radiate from this place did not allow her to do so.

"I'm sorry if we started off on the wrong foot. My name is Trent. At least just let me make it up to you by helping you clean up." He offered the offending hand out for a handshake, albeit forcefully. Her eyes rose slowly from his hand to his face, and the moment their eyes made contact her gut churned instantly. A shiver coursed through her spine and she could feel that she needed to get away from him as soon as possible. She knew that he was what her premonitions were warning her about.

"I need to go." Rei walked passed him as quickly as she could, trying to hide the panic starting inside her. She hoped in vain that her usual tactics of abrasiveness would deter him like all the others, but boy, was she wrong. She felt a strong grip wrap around her wrist, squeezing it tightly.

"I was being nice, you should respect that you dumb bitch. Now you're going to come with me whether you like it or not." Rei tried to wriggle and pull out of his grip but to her surprise it was unnaturally strong. She heard him start to chuckle to himself and turn back around to face him. There was a smirk on his face; his grip tightened harder around her wrist and she could feel the circulation starting to cut off.

What happened next took her completely by surprise: from his hand she felt a warm glow. She swore she could see a red aura emanate from his hand and the warmth started to slowly spread throughout her body. Her pulse began to heighten and her throat began to dry up. He pulled her closer to whisper into her ear. "Now that I've got you, you are going to come with me and I'm going to give you the best fu- "

"REI!" Trent immediately let go of her wrist. He cursed to himself and ran off, a tall, dark skinned boy chasing after him. Rei thanked her lucky stars that Minako came to the rescue. Her heartbeat began to race at the thought of Minako, however, her throat getting even drier, and Rei knew something was completely off. "Rei! There you are! What took you so long?"

She turned to face her friend and attempted to open her mouth to speak, but she couldn't. Rei stood there, looking at Minako and trying to calm her heart rate. However, her heart rate only quickened as her eyes dropped down to the blonde's sandals. Before Rei knew it, her eyes began to pull up slowly, raking in every inch of the tanned, gleaming skin of Minako's legs. They were incredibly toned, and Rei could only imagine their strength, having those legs straddling her - Rei's heart skipped a beat when she realized what she was doing and she blinked hard, darting her eyes up above Minako and tried to chase the thoughts away.

_What is going on with me? _

Before Rei could ponder further Minako pulled her out of her thoughts literally.

"Hellooo Earth to Rei! Oh, I'm so glad you came!" Rei could feel arms wrap around her neck pulling her into a hug and she immediately tensed. She wanted to argue that she didn't come here to join the party, but the scent of pineapples, coconuts, hibiscus and alcohol surrounded her and, before she knew it, Minako was suddenly face to face with the girl in the red heels. Rei's hands hovered behind her back, feeling the heat radiating from the blonde.

"... Hey," Rei whispered back inaudibly, it being all she could manage. The blonde stared into Rei's violet eyes and tilted her sideways head and giggled. Rei could feel a spinning in her lower gut as she stared back, the blue of her eyes pulling her in like a spell. Her eyes began to trail down to her lips, but before they finished their path Minako stepped back she felt a pull at her hands. Minako's soft, but slightly calloused hands were wrapped around Rei's wrist and the shock of the contact sent shivers down her spine in a completely different way than earlier.

_What the hell is going on? Did he… was it that strange aura?_

Rei couldn't seem to take her eyes off the blonde that was dragging her along. She could only seem to see Minako - the playful sway of her hip, the flow of her hair in the dim lighting and the way the lighting just made it seem so soft… Rei was vaguely aware of Minako talking and motioning to a sick Usagi and to a few others before she became fixated on the lithe gestures of Minako's hands as she talked to someone. The way she gesticulated becoming ingrained into her mind, the growing need to feel those hands all over -

"Hey Rei are you listening? You're being super weird. This is Candice, the volleyball captain - she's been helping out with Usagi." Rei's attention snapped to where Minako was gesturing: a tall girl with long ombred hair was looking towards Rei curiously.

"Oh, sorry. Hi, hello." Rei nodded timidly and the captain nodded back, an amused, knowing look on her face. Rei cursed herself for being unable to control herself.

"I think this one's ready to go home." She tilted her head towards Usagi, who was was slumping over a trashcan and Alloa, who was trying her best to comfort her even in her drunken state.

"H-h-hey Usagi, ready to go?" Rei managed to get out, her voice hoarse. She tried to swallow to get rid of the dryness, but it refused to disappear. At this point, she could feel Minako's gaze on her but concentrated on ignoring it. If she could focus on something other than Minako for the rest of the night, maybe this strange feeling would go away.

"Mhmm," she replied groggily, lifting her head up and put her arms out. The girl behind her went and helped her up, Alloa stumbling to help out as well.

"I got it, guys I got it! I promise!" A goofy grin slapped onto her face. Rei only nodded as Minako plastered a goofy grin on her face as well. Rei charged forward to lead them out. Minako, who didn't like trailing behind her, hooked her arm around Rei's, causing the poor girl's breath to deepen. The contact broke her concentration and she glanced at blonde next to her, her scent filling her lungs once more. Rei could feel the need building within her start to become consistently unbearable, and she licked her lips as she glanced again at the blonde.

_Calm down, Rei. Just calm down._

The tall boy from earlier came walking back through the door and headed towards Minako, Rei glad for the distraction. "I chased that creep out of here. There was always something off about him, never sat right with me."

"Thanks Marcus, you da best bro!"

"Haha, right, need help with the little bunny over here?"

"Yeah, please."

Marcus went over to Usagi, and now Minako's attention was on Rei completely. Rei only stared back at Minako when she narrowed her eyes at her. She swallowed in vain once more as an attempt to get rid of the persisting dryness. "Hmm Rei, why was that creep talking to you?"

"He, ah, he spilled on me. A drink." She gave her wet shoulder a tiny wiggle and Minako looked over. Shock overcame Minako's face as she used her free hand to slowly feel the damp shoulder. Rei cringed and bit her lip, doing everything she could to stifle a moan.

_What did he fucking do to me?_

"Oh no! That's no good!" Minako shot Rei a toothy grin, which Rei did her best to neither reciprocate nor acknowledge. This only caused Minako's grin to turn devilish, as she let go of the shoulder and went back to Rei's side. Rei thought she could breathe easier, her car in sight now, until she felt Minako leaning in to whisper. "I can't believe he would ruin such a sexy outfit."

"What…?" The warm breath on her ear drove her wild enough, but Rei could hardly comprehend what was being said. She held her breath and her eyes widened as she clenched her fist to keep whatever control she had left. Minako leaned back and giggled at the response she got, seemingly unaware of how Rei actually felt.

"Seriously Rei, this outfit is ridiculous. You look like a sexy secretary or - oh my god you look like a hot teacher! 'I've been a bad student, haven't I? Punish me, Ms. Hino. Do your worst -"

"Shh Minako, quit running your mouth." The girl, who Rei struggled to recognize as the volleyball captain, said from behind her. "She already has no filter when she's sober but now she's just… Is this your car Hino?"

"...yeah. There are plastic bags in the back." She unhooked herself from Minako, unlocking the doors and quickly got into the driver's side. She took deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. She kept trying to push this feeling down, repress it into nothing until she got alone, but Minako's words, Minako's presence, Minako's… everything was getting to her. She started the engine and concentrated on calming herself as much as possible before the car ride to the Aino residence. She felt like it was going to be a long one.

_Those words meant nothing, Rei. She was just toying like she always does with you and everyone else, now calm down._

But no matter how much she tried to talk herself down, that overwhelming warmth was making itself apparent. It twisted around in her lower torso, begging for attention and she was doing all she could to seem as normal as possible. But the name of that warmth was becoming more and more prevalent; the warmth was manifesting itself as a very strong desire for the blonde.

"Alright Usagi, let's get you in."

"Bring me Mamo, nowww," the sleepy drunk mumbled to no one in particular. Her two human crutches lowered her into the back seat, trying to simultaneously lay her down and shrug her off. Marcus bargained with her.

"If you're a good girl, I'll make sure to give him a call to tell him to come down, okay?"

"Good." Usagi let go and fell into the backseat, plastic bag near her face. Marcus shut the door for her.

"I call shotgun!"

_Shit, no._

"You don't have to call shotgun if no one else wants it." Alloa chided.

"Marcus, Candice, make sure Alloa gets home safe please! You have her keys right?"

"You got it Minako, I have another seat in my car, I'll take care of her."

"Thanks Candy! Bye!" Minako stumbled shut the door and looked over to Rei, who, to her, looked like she was spacing out. "You know how to get to my house, right?"

Rei nodded her head, turning on her headlights and setting her car into drive. She pulled out of the parking spot, Minako waving at her friends who were walking back to the house. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel, squeezing the dear life out of it. At this rate, Rei was doing all she could to control her actions. She had begun breaking out into a sweat from how hot the car suddenly became with Minako's presence. But things were looking up for Rei, Minako who seemed lost in thought and the only noise was a passed out Usagi's soft snores.

"You know, I wasn't lying. You do look super sexy in that outfit."

_Or not. Crap_.

Even though it was said in a matter-of-fact tone, it didn't change the fact that Rei's grip on the steering wheel was now probably tight enough to become permanently indented into the synthetic material. The feeling within Rei spiked whenever the mere mention of the s-word and its many variations came out of her friend's mouth.

"Sh-shut up." She could feel the blue eyes face towards her, but she kept her eyes strictly on the road. Minako has said ridiculous things before, but why was it affecting her like this now? The hunger that had begun to sprout along with the warm feeling was making it difficult to logic her way out of this. The feelings were taking complete reign at this point.

"It's true. You look more… mature." The shift of her tone made Rei let out a shaky breath that she didn't realize she was holding as she tried to keep her focus on the road. Whatever was affecting her, making her feel this way, was not letting up in any way and Minako's behavior only seemed to act as a catalyst. When Rei refused to make any visible acknowledgements to the statement, the buzzed blonde pouted. "I mean, it's obviously why Trent is so dead set on you."

_Trent… that aura, it has to be the aura._

"You can have him, I'm not interested," it came out of her mouth gruffly, Minako startled that her attempts at drunk conversation were no longer one-sided.

"That's not what I meant, I don't even want-" The car paused at a stoplight, the street lights partially illuminating those in the car. Minako squinted at the distraught figure before her, as her hindered mind put together the uncomfortable look, the steering wheel that seemed like it would break at any moment, the unwarranted sweat dripping down her face, the heavy breathing… "Rei, are you okay?"

When she didn't receive any response she reached out touch one of the tense hands. "Rei…" she let out quietly, as her hand made contact with Rei's. To both of their surprises, a small moan came out of the the purple eyed girl's mouth. Rei looked over to Minako in horror, batting the hand away and flinching away. She finally looked at the blonde, the look of surprise on her face not exactly masking just how _hot_ she was to Rei right now. She took this moment to fully look at Minako; the exposed skin of her midriff, the heaving of her chest -

_Stop that, Hino. You aren't an animal._

With a final lick of her lips, she looks back at the road, the stoplight now green. As she accelerated, they sat in an uncomfortable silence, the only noises being Usagi's snoring and mumbling. Minako seemed to be lost in drunken contemplation, only staring at Rei. Rei didn't know how to handle anything at the moment - her current level of desire, the scrutiny of the desired object - and the silence wasn't helping her to get rid of the thoughts. She could feel her eyes watering up at her frustration. She reached a shaky hand to the radio to turn the music on.

There was only ten seconds of muffled music before Minako shut the music off. Rei chanced another look at Minako, who cocked an eyebrow, a smirk on her face. Their eyes connected for moment and Rei saw a knowing look in Minako's blue eyes, and _god_ was it sexy. Rei cringed inwardly at her thoughts, biting her lip and breaking the eye contact. She needed to look at anywhere but her eyes, she thought consciously. Her subconscious, however, had her eyes rake over the athletic body next to her.

"You want me, don't you?"

"What?" she sputtered out. A car horn blared, indicating that Rei had taken too long to react to the now-green light. Her head turned sharply back to the road and she floored her gas pedal, sending everyone in the car lurching. "Shit."

She loosened her foot from the pedal and brought everyone rolling slowly back. Usagi mumbled in the backseat, but didn't stir from her slumber. Minako giggled and Rei could feel the smirk on her face only growing larger.

"I said, you want me, don't you?"

_Yes, yes, god yes I do. _No you don't. This isn't you. _Then who is this right now? You cannot deny the desire. _I don't… I don't want. She's my friend this isn't what I - _The desire is burning through you and you think you can deny it?_

"I… no I..." Rei's battle for sanity was reaching its breaking point. Why Minako? If it was his aura, why wasn't she feeling it for him? Why Minako? Why, why, why?

"Rei, I may not know as much as Ami, but if there is one thing that I know, it's that look," the words slowly came out of her mouth. Rei licked her lips and adjusted her vice grip on the steering wheel. Minako's smirk became insufferable as Rei fidgeted in her seat. Rei's last grip on sanity just kept hoping that Minako would notice that was something was _off_ about Rei, but as Rei took one last glance over at the blonde, seeing that sexy look of determination on her face, the alcohol in her draining any hope that Rei had for her to notice.

"That look. You want me."

"No, I don't-"

"Rei!" Minako yelled. "God Rei, if you just want me just say so! It's okay! I'm not going to force myself on you or anything but damn it Rei I know that look. It's okay to feel that way!" Rei could feel herself on the verge of tears. She wanted her so much right now, she couldn't deny that, she really did. But not like this. Minako was drunk. Rei was... Nothing about her was natural. She didn't even know if she would want her outside of this state.

"No Minako! Not like this, none of it makes sense." There was a tremble in her voice. Even if she wanted her, even if Minako wanted her back, Rei couldn't for the life of her tell if these were her own desires. But one thing became clear, as the churning, screaming sensation in her lower torso showed - it had taken over completely.

"If you don't want to because I'm drunk I can wait, you know. God, I just _need_ you to admit it Rei!" Silence. Nothing but silence for the next few seconds. This pissed drunk Minako off, enough for her not to notice that her driver was trembling all over. "What? Do you need me to say it first? Is that it? Because damn it Rei, I want you. You're so fucking sexy Rei, and the things we could do -"

"Shut up, Minako! Just shut up!" The tears were threatening to spill over and her desire was telling her to just accept. The small inkling of Rei Hino, friend of Minako that was left kept trying to fight it off. But if this went on any longer things could become violent.

"No! Stop being so stubborn! I don't fucking understand why you're doing this to yourself, it's so damn obvious! If you want me then go for it! Like what, are you scared you're going to get hurt? Because let's be real, if we do this _I'd_ be the one getting burned, Rei." Rei's inkling of sanity that she still had wanted to know what she meant by that, but she just could not think about it.

"We aren't doing anything! I don't want you!" The weakness and trembling in her voice said otherwise.

"Rei…" The voice was pleading. It was needy. It needed Rei. But Rei couldn't contain herself anymore. She was frustrated, she was frustrated at how frustrated she was, and she knew there was nothing she could do to satiate the frustration that she wouldn't regret in the morning, so she used the last of her willpower to pick the lesser of two evils. She, after what seemed like forever, _finally_ pulled up into Minako's driveway.

"Get out." Rei whispered hoarsely. Minako looked taken aback. The blonde hadn't even noticed they were at her house. The frustrated maiden took a deep breath, a tear rolling down her cheek before picking up her phone. Minako wanted to say more, but Rei refused to look away from her phone. Minako swung her door open and slammed it shut, using all her control not to break Rei's car from anger. She opened Usagi's door and picked her up from the carseat she was sprawled all over, figuring it would be easier than trying to wake her up.

"Bye, Rei." The maiden heard but didn't acknowledge. Rei held herself together for a few more moments until the two were inside the house. She picked a contact from her phone and called the number. Once she heard the front door slam shut, she let go, the hot tears of frustration rolling down her face as she breathed heavily, waiting for her to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Ami? Tell Artemis to go home right away. Take Luna with him. Usagi and Mina-" her voice hitched at the mention of the volleyball player. "They need them." She was sobbing into her phone, incapable of handling the desires that have taken over every inch of her body.

"Rei! What's going on is everything okay?"

"I need help Ami, I need help. I'm coming to you. I can't do this, I can't handle this." Ami knew something was wrong. Rei was normally solitary in what she did, so whatever was going on… what was going on?

"What's going on!?"

"It… I… the enemy maybe - I don't know but I just want _her_ so badly Ami, it hurts. I can't stop thinking that we could- God Ami, just… I need help, please Ami. Please. This isn't right. Fix me."

"..." Ami couldn't respond right away, she was in shock.

"_Ami." _The tone in Rei's voice made her focus, the future doctor in her taking charge.

"I understand Rei, please get over here safely."

…

The sandy-haired teen slammed the front door of his house open. There was a glow coming from the couch in the living room and the silhouetted figure shifted at the sudden noise.

"How was the party, Ten?" Ira asked as he entered, glancing up from her laptop. He only responded with a blood curdling glare as he stomped passed her and up the stairs. She blinked twice and shrugged. "Guess it wasn't good."

_This isn't how it was supposed to happen she was supposed to come with me. She should have been begging for me to take her._

He slammed the door to his room shut and began letting out heavy pants. He could feel his blood boiling. He went to his bed and picked up a pillow, throwing it as hard as he could against the wall opposite of him. The loud thud of the pillow's impact was followed by a muffled "what the hell" that could be heard from the room.

_She should have wanted me, she should have been begging me to ravage her - this is not how it was supposed to happen._

He picked up another pillow and repeated, nothing satiating the pounding feeling in his head. He heard a knock on his door but ignored it, throwing the last pillow from his bed against the wall. The door slammed open, a figure angrily making their way inside.

"What the hell, Tentigo, it is 1 AM. What are you doing?" Avaritia, groggy from her woken-too-soon state, asked. She rubbed her eyes as he turned his attention towards her. She suddenly found herself wakening immediately at the familiar look in Tentigo's eyes.

"She didn't want me. I used it and she left."

"It? The _Touch_?" She treaded inside his room, much more cautious than she was a minute ago. The touch was a sort of defense mechanism used by their kind and each of them had a different touch. It caused the target to feel an overwhelming emotion or feeling or desire based on that individual's power and is usually meant to distract an enemy long enough to run away or get rid of them. This is because the touch had its repercussions, which may include intense fatigue or having that same feeling or emotion intensified.

"Yes, I used _that_. So why isn't she here? Why!?" He punched his headboard, his fist going right through it. She lifted her foot, debating whether to step forward but decided against it for the sake of avoiding physical confrontation. With Tentigo, his Touch, his personality - everything about him involved _lust_. And normally his groomed sandy hair and enchanting light brown eyes are enough to draw most people in… but even he had to acknowledge that looks weren't always everything. And that's why he resorted to his Touch.

"Tentigo, calm down. You should have known it wasn't going to be this easy." She moved slightly to her right as a textbook whirled by her face, leaving a hole in the wall upon impact.

"That's what the Touch was for you idiot! She should have wanted me."

"It's unreliable and you know that!" This was getting bad and Avaritia knew it. Since he is a creature that revolves around lust, he needed his urges to be fulfilled and usually she was the one who took care of that - she enjoyed having beautiful things under her possession anyway. However, had she known how difficult it would be for him to obtain her, she never would have agreed to this. Because if he's not satisfied for an extended period of time, his lust for pleasure also becomes interchangeable for his lust for something else, something much… messier. And his usage of the Touch only sped up this process. She noticed his tenseness suddenly disappear, and instantly recognized the change in demeanor.

"Hey Av, do me a favor and get the hell out of my room." It seemed polite enough, but she noted that his eyes were no longer on her but the hand he used to punch through his headboard. He stared at the blood dripping down from his torn skin on his knuckles. His eyes slowly caressed the driblets as it made its way down his hand, almost too fascinated by the sight.

He felt her presence still there and looked at her, lapping his blood up with his tongue. He then used his fingers to seal his wounds shut, good as new.

"Good night." She whispered as she slowly backed out. This was what she was initially afraid of. Had she had this bet with anyone else it would have been fine, but when Tentigo was like this he could not be controlled. He would need to get to Rei as soon as possible or else there would be casualties and blood shed. She went downstairs to the only other being awake in their household. The girl on her laptop didn't bother to look up.

"What's with all the noise?"

"We haven't done it in a while, so…" Ira nodded knowingly, eyes still on her laptop.

"Oh. You think he would have managed to get one of these meatbags to do it."

"Well yeah, but he decided he wanted a challenge, picking the only meatbag not interested in him." Ira scoffed.

"Well that's stupid. He knows what happens."

"He used his Touch and it didn't work." She finally looked up at her, shaking her head. She knew he was stubborn, but boy was this going to cause problems.

"That's stupider. Should we get Exaltatio?" Avaritia thought about it for a moment and then shrugged.

"Nah, it's too late, let him suffer the consequences." Dux and Exaltatio would have his ass if they knew he was going to waste precious life force, which might have bothered her since Tentigo was her closest companion out of the eight of them. But the more she thought about it, the better the idea of him gone became. With him gone, it would mean she could keep Rei Hino all to herself with no competition to hinder her, and that was a prospect she wanted more and more by the minute.

* * *

Thanks to everyone for the reviews! Umm I might be over explaining myself, but these brought up interesting points.

To Calzer Dan: I wasn't designing their super suits with practicality as my main goal to be honest. When I think of American superheroes, I tend to think of their costumes as flashy spandex with something that symbolizes them as part of the design. I wanted to deviate from reducing them to white spandex with their planetary signs and color scheme and make something corresponding to their personality and/or powers. So I guess I was trying to go for cliched because that's the type of story I'm trying to write but also tried to avoid it somewhat.

To Can't Think of Cool Name (don't worry, I obviously couldn't either): The basic premise of this story in my mind is what would the senshi be like if they grew up in America and were more like an American superhero team. I'm trying to keep their personality as close as I can to (what I perceive as) their canon personalities but am trying to keep in mind that in this story they have know grown up (mostly?) in the United States rather than Japan. Most of the differences would come from this and I guess the fighting and villains they have to face.

Please make sure to let me know what you think, because there are about 25 more chapters, give or take, to go and I want it to be as well written and interesting as possible.


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